Re:Apple engineer killed in Tesla crash had previously compl...
by pbhjpbhj on Wednesday February 12, 2020 @04:02AM
(#22307159)
These sorts of analyses get complicated fast. Walking is riskier in part because you're more exposed to the "killer self-driving cars", but also people with preconditions will walk. Like, if you're drunk you'll walk home, if you're unfit you're more likely to walk than cycle, etc., people walking probably get mugged more often, ...
Re:Apple engineer killed in Tesla crash had previously compl...
by DangerousPie on Wednesday February 12, 2020 @08:24AM
(#22308580)
But OP is making the opposite assumption here - that cycling is riskier. Which, keeping all other factors constant, seems intuitively correct to me since you go at a higher speed and you are on the road with cars rather than on the sidewalk.
Re:Apple engineer killed in Tesla crash had previously compl...
by Piskvorrr on Wednesday February 12, 2020 @06:25AM
(#22307920)
As you note, you're coming from impossible premises ("assuming your actions never affect anyone else"). Do you expect to come to meaningful conclusions?
In other words, as a buyer, I do care about the occupant safety rating, you are correct in that. As a road user, I also care that other people's cars consider me as irrelevant, my potential death an externality to be amortized in the purchase prize.
Let's say that you can go to work by feet or by bike.
Let's also say that by feet your probability of getting killed are 1 in 1,000,000, and the commute takes 20 minutes.
On a bike, commuting takes only 10 minutes, but the probability is up to 1 in 200,000. Five times more.
You end up deciding to use the bike every day to go to work.
In this example, you decided to trade comfort (faster commute) with a slightly higher probability to end up dead.
Imagine now you need to decide whether to commute in your Tesla with or without autopilot.
Let's assume (I might be wrong) that Tesla's autopilot increases your chances of getting killed. (for simplicity, let's ignore the consequences for other people on the road).
Would you still trade comfort (not needing to drive) with a slightly higher probability to die?