Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll

thedetroitbureau.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 410 posts

Re: Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll

#81

Post by verisimi »

pigtailgirl wrote: post #48
verisimi wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm being downvoted - but this is the reality of what will happen. Who wants that sort of monitoring when they are driving? Is this a consumer-driven feature? Or is this more government management - leveraging technology to micro-manage every detail of our lives - only allowing good citizens travel privileges etc? We are sleep walking into a dystopia, and I get downvoted for stating the obvious! Seriously - your gove…

Maybe some people just agree with this? (a) Findings.--Congress finds that-- (1) alcohol-impaired driving fatalities represent approximately \1/3\ of all highway fatalities in the United States each year; (2) in 2019, there were 10,142 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities in the United States involving drivers with a blood alcohol concentration level of .08 or higher, and 68 percent of the crashes that resulted in tho…

I think its possible to make an argument for lots of things, in the name of safety. That it should be impossible to have anonymity online, etc because of child abuse, or terrorism, or some other action.

The safety argument cannot balance the fact that we also need freedom of speech and thought. We are heading into a world where the power balance is going to become so wildly asymmetrical - the government will know everything about you and will have the power to act against you instantly, automatically - it will change us. It will be dehumanising - you will have to watch your back. If you don't already.

We will have to conform to have a job, be able to travel, receive our govcoin vouchers, etc.

We are literally installing an even worse citizen score system than China, that no one would ever want, but each step of the way we are convinced by some spurious and limited 'safety' argument. This misses the whole picture.

And if you think that the government won't act against you once it has the power to do so, you are dreaming. Everyone seems to think that government is a force for good, as opposed to being the operators of the slavery system we find ourselves in. Some of us try to kid ourselves that we are free, while we hand over 40% of our income for government to service the interest on the debt that they have accrued on our behalf. I don't.

Anyway - I say what I see, no one likes my message, everyone seems blind to the points I raise, or wants to ignore them - what can I do? I hope I'm wrong.

Re: Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll

#83

Post by Hamuko »

lorenzfx wrote: post #20

While the specs sound very underwhelming at first (geo-fenced on some roads, very low speeds, no bad weather), they seem to be so confident in their system, that they will take responsibility for the car when in autopilot. AFAIK, no other manufacturer does this for their systems (which capabilities they often make rather wild claims about).

What about legal? As in, if I'm being driven around my Mercedes-Benz while watching a movie on my phone and something happens, am I not gonna get fucked by the cops?

Re: Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll

#84

Post by I_DRINK_KOOLAID »

slg wrote: post #76
davidvarela_us wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

few things inspire confidence like companies putting their literal money where their mouth is

But haven't we all seen Fight Club? It isn't a question a confidence, it is a question of financial math. This decision tells us nothing about the safety of the Mercedes system compared to its competitors. All it tells us is that adding these limitations to ensure the system is only used in the safest possible scenarios makes taking over liability more reasonable. That isn't surprising. Their competitors' systems are…

> This decision tells us nothing about the safety of the Mercedes system compared to its competitors

Mercedes is just taking notice that grandstanding and PR worked for Tesla, so they are doing the same thing.

Everybody who is serious about this knows that unless you get Level 5 it's all just grandstanding.

Level 5 won't come from unleashing Level 3 into the world and throwing deers , cyclists and pedestrians at it (hopefully not literally).

It's just a weird hill that brainpower and capital decided to die on. Deaths on the road are tragic but airbags, seatbelts and ultimately bigger cars and lower alcohol intake are something that is practical, whereas FSD is something like a pie-in-the-sky thing

Re: Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll

#85

Post by mhh__ »

lorenzfx wrote: post #20

While the specs sound very underwhelming at first (geo-fenced on some roads, very low speeds, no bad weather), they seem to be so confident in their system, that they will take responsibility for the car when in autopilot. AFAIK, no other manufacturer does this for their systems (which capabilities they often make rather wild claims about).

Confident but limited is probably how the German manufacturers describe most of their cars (although I think mercedes do at least some of their driverless in the USA)

Re: Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll

#86

Post by mhh__ »

KaoruAoiShiho wrote: post #49

This is powered by nvidia i think: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/04/16/mercedes-benz-eqs-h... This means if mercedes have it, so will many other automakers since nvidia sells to everyone.

With these press releases they can mean anything from "It's our tech but rebadged" to "We sold them a CAD program" so not always clear.

Re: Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll

#87

Post by gitfan86 »

mtlynch wrote: post #79
gitfan86 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OJ Simpson, the man that the police forced to stop fleeing under threat of deadly violence? Are you trying to scare people that their car may be disabled, when those same people already live in a society where police shoot and kill and pit maneuver drivers? Wouldn't you rather have the car stop safely, instead of being pit maneuvered and flipped into a ditch?

OJ Simpson, the man that the police forced to stop fleeing under threat of deadly violence? That didn't happen. Police followed OJ for 50 miles and ultimately let him drive safely to his house. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson_murder_case#Br...

The LAPD had killed plenty of people who didn't comply with their orders at that point. It is completely unrealistic to think that the LAPD wouldn't have used violence against OJ, if he had tried to flee to Mexico.

Re: Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll

#88

Post by a-dub »

MBCook wrote: post #78
a-dub wrote: post #23

there should be a qualification level for vehicles that can fully self drive at low speeds in heavy traffic on the highway so you can nap through traffic jams and then later enjoy your performance automobile by driving it yourself when it's clear. half the point of fancy cars is that they're fun to drive.

I think that may be level 4, but I’m not sure.

it appears you're correct... but it is a much easier problem and one that i argue has massive bang for the buck _today_.

robotaxis will probably happen at scale some day. but for now, "nap through bad traffic mode" would be pretty excellent both in terms of safety and utility.

Re: Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll

#89

Post by gitfan86 »

na85 wrote: post #53
gitfan86 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OJ Simpson, the man that the police forced to stop fleeing under threat of deadly violence? Are you trying to scare people that their car may be disabled, when those same people already live in a society where police shoot and kill and pit maneuver drivers? Wouldn't you rather have the car stop safely, instead of being pit maneuvered and flipped into a ditch?

>Are you trying to scare people that their car may be disabled, when those same people already live in a society where police shoot and kill and pit maneuver drivers? Scare? No. I'm just pointing out that, just as pervasive corporate surveillance is now the norm on the internet, pervasive tracking and always-on kill switches for cars will soon become the new norm. Law enforcement will paint it exactly as you have don…

No post body was provided.

Re: Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll

#90

Post by myko »

pojzon wrote: post #2

If tesla still has issues with self-driving cars and they are like a decade if not more ahead of everyone else. I dont believe this PR stunt.

Tesla seems way behind companies like Waymo

It's all marketing hype, I say this as a Model S owner with FSD

Post reply on HN