First self driving car death

[clearconscience]

Man sad to hear this was an ex-Navy SEAL.
But I'm not surprised

Tesla driver using Autopilot feature killed by tractor trailer <broken link removed>

Read More

 

[308]

What a shocker.

 

[RicInOR]

Well that is a totally mis-leading headline, don't you think.
Suspect Fox has a side in it - in favor of self-drive?

The truck did not do anything to cause the accident. Nor did the driver of the truck.

The idiot watching a movie, however, did.

"the Tesla driver was "playing Harry Potter on the TV screen" at the time of the crash and driving so quickly that "he went so fast through [the] trailer"

Had he been paying attention, he could have used the brakes, or steered away from the collision




Still, self drive is inevitable.

 

[clearconscience]

I think the onslaught of technology these days gives people a false sense of security.

People seem to lose common sense when introduced to new tech.

 

[CoastRange57]

Still, self drive is inevitable.

Maybe in very limited situations and locations. Even with all the predictive softwares and intelligence out there, there are simply things you cannot factor in to any self drive scenario.

I worked for a major turf equipment manufacturer testing prototype machines specifically under wet and inclement conditions. They sent machines out to me, and several times I was able to break machines or get substandard performance out of them that had not already been found in lab or testing at the factory. Often times I could not even replicate the situation that caused the failure, and this was even with very limited conditional inputs, nothing like you would expect in a car driving scenario. This was just basically, sh*t happens.

To expect a self drive scenario to gain wide spread use is not going to happen any time soon , although a generation down the road who knows..the idiots and cars out there now are annoying and dangerous enough with out self driving cars.

 

[Mark W.]

I drive 200 to 300 miles a day in a dump truck and trailer. The amount of insane driving crap I see in a week would fill you tube. If they can come up with a robot car that can handle what these morons out there are doing they are doing way better then the gene pool.

 

[RicInOR]

IMO

The progression looks like this

1. Busses / Trams - they are on a set route, and other set safety checks can be in place
ie a monitor on a bus stop pole can verify the exact location of the bus at the same time the bus is doing that.

2. Over the road trucks. These loads could be on trains, but for time. Why not designate the inside lane for self driving trucks from say 8pm to 5am - let them go feet from each other to benefit from the draft - heck let them go 80 in the convoy on I-5. Any detected issues, the vehicle moves to the right e-lane and stops and sends a signal. Trucks do not go into cities, but rather stop at Truck-Stops, where the load is moved on by a human (sooner time frame) Given all the ads, over the road truckers are hard to come by.

3. Uber, Lyft and taxis - in certain areas like city core, and city core to airport.

4. Self driving electric city cars - for the daily commute. Whether Boise, Portland or Seattle, this would improve things. Your commute in John Day ... that tractor is still going to be there.
For the family vacation, use Enterprise -- many people do this already has they have a low-mileage lease.

 

[Sstrand]

I thought all those people I see driving with "cellephones" in their ear were in "Self-Driving vehicles!

Sheldon

 

[Mikej]

 

[jbett98]

Just wait for the flying cars to hit the airways.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I don't trust technology, call me old school but I believe it has destroyed the core of humanity. This generation is so fixated on it that it has taken away common sense and accountability of one's actions!!!!

 

[Gaust]

I'm not sure about other states but it's illegal in Oregon for the driver to watch a movie while the vehicle is in motion. There's a safety feature built by the factory to disable this fearure if the screen can be seen from the drivers seat. He either disabled this feature or viewing movies was allowed while using auto pilot.

 

[The Heretic]

I don't trust technology, call me old school but I believe it has destroyed the core of humanity. This generation is so fixated on it that it has taken away common sense and accountability of one's actions!!!!

I trust technology a LOT more than I trust most drivers on the road.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I trust technology a LOT more than I trust most drivers on the road.

Not necessarily in this case. I'll just keep my head on a swivel.
I believe that NASA is fake and wrestling is real.....

 

[The Heretic]

Well that is a totally mis-leading headline, don't you think.
Suspect Fox has a side in it - in favor of self-drive?

The truck did not do anything to cause the accident. Nor did the driver of the truck.

The idiot watching a movie, however, did.

"the Tesla driver was "playing Harry Potter on the TV screen" at the time of the crash and driving so quickly that "he went so fast through [the] trailer"

Had he been paying attention, he could have used the brakes, or steered away from the collision




Still, self drive is inevitable.

So truck pulls out from a side road in front of you such that if you don't brake (possibly have to brake really hard to avoid collision), then is it your fault or the truck driver's fault that you don't notice them and hit them?

Reading the article, that is what it sounded like. Plus the truck driver is the one claiming the Tesla driver was watching a movie. It seems to me the truck driver has a vested interest in blaming the Tesla driver.

I have people pull out in front of me from side streets from time to time. They are in the wrong in not yielding the right of way. Twice I have collided with such drivers - second time it totaled my car - the second time it put me in the hospital.

First time I was driving on a main four lane street (2 lanes each way) beside a large truck. The truck was turning onto the side street and a lady pulled out in front of me because she saw the truck turning and didn't take into account that there may have been a car beside the truck. I had absolutely no time to brake.

Another time a Salem city bus pulled out in front of me from a residential side street onto a through street, from a stop sign. I saw the bus. I was going below the speed limit (30 MPH), I slammed on my brakes and t-boned the bus. The driver had a history of accidents. I had to sue the city to recover costs.

When you pull out from a side street and there is oncoming traffic, the oncoming traffic has the right of way, not you.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Nevvvveeer trust technology, sonny!

 

[The Courier]

The day that "Smart" driving tech becomes mandatory is the day that I return to two wheels, parking and collision avoiding should be done by a person not a computer. This is why we should all drive APC's as driver/passenger deaths would plummet...

 

[Jamie6.5]

When you pull out from a side street and there is oncoming traffic, the oncoming traffic has the right of way, not you.

It sounds like the driving computer was programmed by a bicyclist.
You know, like the ones that ignore the perils of defying physics, while explaining from their bed in the ICU, that they had the right-of-way.

 

[tac]

He was not alone in the car - Mr Darwin was sitting in the other seat.

tac

 

[jbett98]

You would think that Mr. Darwin was smart enough to jump out of that car at the first opportunity.