4 ms·

Two anecdotes: Every day on my way to work I go through a 4 way stop. 1/4 of the time there's someone on the other side of me, who arrived at about the same t

Two anecdotes: Every day on my way to work I go through a 4 way stop. 1/4 of the time there's someone on the other side of me, who arrived at about the same time as me and one of us needs to decide who goes first. How do we do this? Hand gestures. We both (drivers) instantly know what the hand gesture means (after you) however with a robo driver I would just have to wait, and I guess see what it was going to do first? On my way back from home I cross a bike trail with a stop sign for cars and bikes. Many times there are people about to enter the crosswalk. How do we communicate? Hand gestures and smiles. I can't imagine the terror I'd feel trying to cross in front of a robo car.

ToucanLoucan 3y ago
Oh yeah for sure, I'm not saying they're useless. I'm just saying I don't think an autonomous car is going to be a much larger threat in that situation. And even if it went at the same time you did, it can either detect that and wait for you to cross, or simply wait for you regardless.
RandallBrown 3y ago
In both cases I would assume for the bike to get the right of way and the car would simply stop and wait for the biker to go. Either way, for the foreseeable future a human will still be sitting in the driver seat ready to make eye contact and wave you on. What I'm more excited about is the idea that more and more cars will be able to automatically stop if they see people/obstacles in the street. I've almost gotten hit plenty of times while crossing intersections with stop signs because the car pulled up past the sidewalk too quickly.
sunshinesnacks 3y ago
In the 4-way stop example, isn’t that what right-of-way rules are for? Not following those rules because you saw a hand gesture seems like it puts you at risk if there is an accident. Maybe I’m misunderstanding your example. https://topdriver.com/education-blog/4-rules-4-way-stops/ https://topdriver.com/education-blog/4-rules-4-way-stops/
- josefresco 3y ago
  Surely, however in practice determining who exactly arrived at an intersection first isn't that easy (maybe it will be for the robo cars).
  - PawgerZ 3y ago
    Who arrives first is only the first rule. Did you even click on their link?

ToucanLoucan 3y ago

Oh yeah for sure, I'm not saying they're useless. I'm just saying I don't think an autonomous car is going to be a much larger threat in that situation. And even if it went at the same time you did, it can either detect that and wait for you to cross, or simply wait for you regardless.

RandallBrown 3y ago

In both cases I would assume for the bike to get the right of way and the car would simply stop and wait for the biker to go. Either way, for the foreseeable future a human will still be sitting in the driver seat ready to make eye contact and wave you on. What I'm more excited about is the idea that more and more cars will be able to automatically stop if they see people/obstacles in the street. I've almost gotten hit plenty of times while crossing intersections with stop signs because the car pulled up past the sidewalk too quickly.

sunshinesnacks 3y ago

In the 4-way stop example, isn’t that what right-of-way rules are for? Not following those rules because you saw a hand gesture seems like it puts you at risk if there is an accident. Maybe I’m misunderstanding your example. https://topdriver.com/education-blog/4-rules-4-way-stops/ https://topdriver.com/education-blog/4-rules-4-way-stops/

josefresco 3y ago
Surely, however in practice determining who exactly arrived at an intersection first isn't that easy (maybe it will be for the robo cars).
- PawgerZ 3y ago
  Who arrives first is only the first rule. Did you even click on their link?