Re:Ford CEO says the company 'overestimated' self-driving cars
by bradlys on Thursday April 11, 2019 @04:01PM
(#19638547)
> One problem with developing these technologies in California is that California has very wide, very regular roads. High visibility and dry conditions are the norm. There are few uncontrolled intersections (in Seattle they are the rule, not an exception). I think California's history as a motorist culture has conversely made it one of the easiest places to automate.
You're doing well until you say this. The state of California is just as diverse as Seattle when it comes to roads. I lived in both quite a bit...
California has some bad roads with poor visibility. Recently, we've had a lot of forest fires. Guess what - visibility gets pretty bad. It's like driving in fog (and we have that too). We also have snow! (The bay area got snow this winter - skyline did its thing and fell off the face of the earth again from it too) We had so much snow that most of Tahoe was closed for winter. The roads aren't super well maintained and if you go do some trips to Tahoe (good luck getting there or back!), you'd find out that the markings for lanes just disappear altogether. (Snow or not) We have single lane with 2 way traffic either intentionally or because there are so many cars parked on the road that only one car can fit through. There are insane hills with no nearly no visibility unless you creep forward into the intersection past the stop sign when at the top. Same with going down them - no god damn idea what's below until you just jump that cliff. You have some of those in Seattle but they're really steep in SF. Incredibly twisty and poorly paved roads with no road markings that suddenly change from having lines to not having lines randomly or permanently (e.g. Alpine, Old La Honda Rd, Kings Mountain) and here's the kicker - they're pretty popular roads with lots of people using them all the time with a wide variety of people on them. It's common to see a cyclist on the road or a damn horse and having to overtake them when there isn't a ton of room (and there's a very real risk of oncoming traffic) unless you want to be stuck behind them for 30 minutes during their little workout or trot up the hill.
So... don't write off the whole state. There's a lot of varied conditions.
You're doing well until you say this. The state of California is just as diverse as Seattle when it comes to roads. I lived in both quite a bit...
California has some bad roads with poor visibility. Recently, we've had a lot of forest fires. Guess what - visibility gets pretty bad. It's like driving in fog (and we have that too). We also have snow! (The bay area got snow this winter - skyline did its thing and fell off the face of the earth again from it too) We had so much snow that most of Tahoe was closed for winter. The roads aren't super well maintained and if you go do some trips to Tahoe (good luck getting there or back!), you'd find out that the markings for lanes just disappear altogether. (Snow or not) We have single lane with 2 way traffic either intentionally or because there are so many cars parked on the road that only one car can fit through. There are insane hills with no nearly no visibility unless you creep forward into the intersection past the stop sign when at the top. Same with going down them - no god damn idea what's below until you just jump that cliff. You have some of those in Seattle but they're really steep in SF. Incredibly twisty and poorly paved roads with no road markings that suddenly change from having lines to not having lines randomly or permanently (e.g. Alpine, Old La Honda Rd, Kings Mountain) and here's the kicker - they're pretty popular roads with lots of people using them all the time with a wide variety of people on them. It's common to see a cyclist on the road or a damn horse and having to overtake them when there isn't a ton of room (and there's a very real risk of oncoming traffic) unless you want to be stuck behind them for 30 minutes during their little workout or trot up the hill.
So... don't write off the whole state. There's a lot of varied conditions.