Let’s Talk About Self-Driving Cars

Re:Let’s Talk About Self-Driving Cars by rsync on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @12:20PM (#13366617)

"For example, nearly 1/3 of fatal collisions in the US involve a driver with a BAC of 0.08 or higher."

This is a flawed comparison because failing to update your software or keep your tires inflated or clean off your sensors would also be human decisions that could lead to adverse outcomes with self-driving cars.

Non-driving-operation decisions like that are applicable to both regular and self-driving cars.

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Re:Let’s Talk About Self-Driving Cars by Gargoyle on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @03:03PM (#13368420)

>This is a flawed comparison because failing to update your software or keep your tires inflated or clean off your sensors would also be human decisions that could lead to adverse outcomes with self-driving cars.

It's incredibly simple to remove humans from those decisions. Just have the self-driving code refuse to engage until the issue is resolved.

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Re:Let’s Talk About Self-Driving Cars by sib on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @04:28PM (#13369201)

And then Grandma dies of her heart attack because you can't rush her to the hospital because one tire is 3psi underinflated? Most of these issues aren't binary.

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Re:Let’s Talk About Self-Driving Cars by maxerickson on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @04:42PM (#13369376)

Call 911.

Calling an ambulance is currently the recommended thing to do in severe medical emergencies anyway.

For other concerns about availability, adjust maintenance inspections and routines as necessary. For example, if you live somewhere there is no ambulance service and someone is of uncertain health, maybe inspect the tires every day (this sounds tedious but look at the alternative you are proposing, having a tire blow out while delivering dying Grandma to the ER).

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Re:Let’s Talk About Self-Driving Cars by Gargoyle on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @05:52PM (#13369995)

Nothing would be stopping you from driving the car. It just wouldn't drive itself.

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Re:Let’s Talk About Self-Driving Cars by hx87 on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @04:52PM (#13369458)

CTIS. Not enough air? Pump some air.

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Re:Let’s Talk About Self-Driving Cars by maxerickson on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @12:25PM (#13366689)

Driving while impaired is not a non-driving-operation decision. It's an ongoing driving decision. The driver is poorly assessing their ability to safely complete upcoming operations. Over and over.

I also expect that automatic systems will greatly improve the level of maintenance of vehicles (for example, mandatory tire pressure monitoring already does...).

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