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> does this happen more-often, or for longer-periods, with autonomous cars? How would one go about finding that data? Is there an authority that tracks how oft

> does this happen more-often, or for longer-periods, with autonomous cars? How would one go about finding that data? Is there an authority that tracks how often and for how long emergency vehicles are impeded by human drivers? You might get something along the lines of average time to first response on the scene. > Human drivers sometimes fail-to-notice sirens or other high-priority demands on road capacity. But, an automated system could broadcast the planned-routes of dispatched priority vehicles to every autonomous car in the city, allowing the autonomous cars to preemptively clear paths, before it even becomes an issue of local-reasoning about an exceptional-situation. This doesn't comfort me. We already live in a society whose leadership doesn't believe in net neutrality, I have a hard time believing that an automated driving system that programmatically prioritizes vehicles on the road won't be co-opted in the same manner to benefit those with capital at the expense of those that don't.

gojomo 4y ago
> How would one go about finding that data? The autonomous car companies have a lot of the data, since they've run the same cars with drivers extensively. They can see the differences in rates-of-situations between cars-working-autonomously, and cars-with-drivers. Given the long periods of operating with autonomy-plus-backup-driver, they also have stats on how often an in-car driver overrides the car, and exactly why. Cities also can & should independently collect such data. Some big-city buses are already equipeend with a photo-ticketing mechanism for immediately recording, & citing, and cars illegally parked in their paths/pickup-area. Emergency vehicles should have the same. > This doesn't comfort me. Well, I can't make you comfortable if you've got free-floating paranoia about abuses by the powerful. There are many such abuses! But I can point out that the exact same rational comparative criteria should apply before making a tangible policy decision about the use of the shared roads. We shouldn't be ruled by imaginative worries extrapolated from other insecurities, but rather real measurements of how often a "send a request to clea roads for emergency vehicles" is broadcast, whether each use has a recorded & verified legitimate justification, whether such broadcasts save lives versus not-using-them, etc.

gojomo 4y ago

> How would one go about finding that data? The autonomous car companies have a lot of the data, since they've run the same cars with drivers extensively. They can see the differences in rates-of-situations between cars-working-autonomously, and cars-with-drivers. Given the long periods of operating with autonomy-plus-backup-driver, they also have stats on how often an in-car driver overrides the car, and exactly why. Cities also can & should independently collect such data. Some big-city buses are already equipeend with a photo-ticketing mechanism for immediately recording, & citing, and cars illegally parked in their paths/pickup-area. Emergency vehicles should have the same. > This doesn't comfort me. Well, I can't make you comfortable if you've got free-floating paranoia about abuses by the powerful. There are many such abuses! But I can point out that the exact same rational comparative criteria should apply before making a tangible policy decision about the use of the shared roads. We shouldn't be ruled by imaginative worries extrapolated from other insecurities, but rather real measurements of how often a "send a request to clea roads for emergency vehicles" is broadcast, whether each use has a recorded & verified legitimate justification, whether such broadcasts save lives versus not-using-them, etc.