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People are super dangerous in cars, so it's nice to have technologies to make driving safer. I also enjoy driving, but I love the adaptive cruise control in my
by mplanchard 4y ago
People are super dangerous in cars, so it's nice to have technologies to make driving safer.
I also enjoy driving, but I love the adaptive cruise control in my Toyota, because it makes the most frustrating kind of driving (lots of traffic on the highway) super easy to deal with. It makes me much less hesitant to make the trip from Austin to San Antonio, because rather than having to be hyper-vigilant for two hours due to constantly shifting stop-and-go traffic, I can let the car control the speed and instead focus more on watching out for crazy drivers.
I am not sure whether I feel the same way about full self-driving. At that point, in my mind, you'd be better off taking a train, since you're very likely to become super distracted/tired with nothing to focus on. That said, if it makes the roads safer in aggregate, I'm not against it.
Given the kind of information we see in this article and other factors, though, I'll never buy a Tesla. I'll wait until it hits the major car manufacturers.
- TheCoelacanth 4y agoIt is nice to have technology to make driving safer. Maybe someday Tesla can get some.
- brandonagr2 4y agohttps://www.tesla.com/blog/model-y-earns-5-star-safety-rating-euro-ncap https://www.tesla.com/blog/model-y-earns-5-star-safety-ratin...
- rootusrootus 4y ago> People are super dangerous in cars That is a very subjective description. One fatality per 100,000,000 miles actually seems pretty good, given how complex driving can be. And even then, that number includes the shitty drivers that account for most wrecks. The median driver is quite good, objectively.
- c-cube 4y agoDoes that also include pedestrians and cyclists killed by drivers?
- rootusrootus 4y agoYes, it does.
- mplanchard 4y agoIt is subjective, but almost everything you can compare cars to is less dangerous. Relative to trains, buses, and airplanes, cars are super dangerous. Relative to motorcycles, they're safe.
- rootusrootus 4y agoRelative to trains & buses (airplanes is a separate niche entirely), cars are a lot more useful too. That is inextricably tied to why they are more dangerous.
- mplanchard 4y agoI think it's also important to note that fatalities are not the only way to define dangerous. Plenty of accidents leave people disfigured, badly injured, permanently disabled, with lifelong chronic pain, and so on. While I'd certainly prefer any of that to dying, I'd rather have neither if I could choose.
- Der_Einzige 4y agoBtw, radar powered adaptive cruise control on my 2017 Lexus is excellent. Isn't jerky, can start from a complete stop again, and is reliable. I feel bad for Tesla owners who are stuck with shitty cameras. Lex Friedman should have given a way bigger tongue lashing to kaparthy for being so stupid.