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Decades ago I accidentally ran over a cat while driving fairly slow on a residential street. It dashed out between parked cars and I barely saw it at all. I'm
by sema4hacker 1y ago
Decades ago I accidentally ran over a cat while driving fairly slow on a residential street. It dashed out between parked cars and I barely saw it at all. I'm guessing sensor-laden driverless cars are actually going to turn out to be better at avoiding those and other kinds of accidents than human drivers.
- eminence32 1y agoI remember vividly a childhood experience when a car I was in ran over a dog -- it ran towards the side of the car and went under the rear wheels of the car. I'm not sure there's any reaction time (human or otherwise) that would have prevented that from happening.
- nomel 1y agoI almost hit an inebriated homeless person when they fell out of a bush into the road. There are scenarios where the only "safe" speed is 0 mph.
- potato3732842 1y agoI saw a duck kill itself by flying head first into a parked truck at maximum speed while being chased by some other bird. So ever 0 isn't "safe", lol
- computerthings 11mo ago[dead]
- rogerrogerr 1y agoYep, I think it’s blatantly obvious that autonomous cars of some flavor will eclipse human ability sometime this century. The interesting point will be when insurance companies reduce your rate if your car doesn’t have a steering wheel (or, equivalently, charge a “driving manually” fee). It might be obscured if car companies take on the risk themselves, but at some point people will start to notice that driving manually costs more.
- IAmBroom 11mo agoI think they're close to it now - although there isn't enough data to drive home the proof yet. Not "better than the best", but "safer than the average driver" - and if you aren't the only one on the road, your safety is a mix of your skill and everyone else's.
- asveikau 11mo agoI had a dog bolt in front of my car once on a slow residential street. He survived. It was terrifying. Still, this cat was on a busy stretch of 16th Street for nearly a decade and was unharmed by human drivers. I think Waymo failed pretty badly here. Some of the dismissive comments I've seen on this topic seem to me like they're making excuses.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 11mo agoDecades ago a kitty bolted in the middle of the street. I was less than 18, using one of those little cars that reaches at most 50 Km/h. I slammed the break and manage to stop maybe 2 cm from the kitty, which managed to continue out of the street alive. The scooter behind me came close to me and complained that I almost killed them by slamming the breaks. To this day, I still don't know if that was the right call. That guy could have been a dad and I could have killed a father. Still I couldn't think of killing a cat either.
- jopicornell 11mo agoIf a vehicle can't react to the emmergency break of the vehicle ahead, it's their fault. Change the kitty for a child and the complaint of the scooter is nonsense.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 11mo agoI don't disagree, but I'm still left killing a father of a family afterwards.
- mensetmanusman 11mo agoBe wary at higher speeds of veering due to animals. Insurance could blame you if you start an accident and don’t end up hitting the animal.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 11mo agoMakes sense. I did not veer because it's a very dangerous road and in Rome veering to dodge means you are hitting a scooter (scooters zip through traffic in Rome). The reason why the guy behind me survived is because he did veer when I slammed the breaks
- michael1999 11mo agoNo. The other driver almost hurt himself following too closely, and not paying attention. There is nothing exceptional about emergency braking in a residential neighbourhood. Your prime responsibility when driving a car is in the direction of travel.