Live data from Hacker News

Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

jalopnik.com

111–120 of 197 posts

Re: Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

#111
post #8

I think this idea makes some sense, in a mixed-traffic world where some vehicles are autonomous and others are not, some indication that a vehicle is driving autonomously is useful information to everyone around them. Additional situational information, provided it is not overly intrusive or overwhelming is generally beneficial. As for the colour, clearly Mercedes requested Turquoise for brand reasons. I wonder if th…

> some indication that a vehicle is driving autonomously is useful information to everyone around them I'm genuinely curious - what are you thinking when you say this? I don't know what I'd do with that information. It shouldn't make me drive differently - e.g. not be aggressive to see if I can invoke reaction(s) in the autonomous system, and I should already be driving w/ due care.

FTFA:

> if you see the teal lights, you know the car is using automated driving, so it’s less likely for other motorists to be shocked and concerned when they see the occupants looking away from the road, plus emergency services have a better understanding of what to do if medical assistance is needed. It will also be super helpful for law enforcement, so cops hopefully won’t pull you over for watching TikToks on your infotainment screen when it’s perfectly allowed by law.

Re: Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

#112
post #8

I think this idea makes some sense, in a mixed-traffic world where some vehicles are autonomous and others are not, some indication that a vehicle is driving autonomously is useful information to everyone around them. Additional situational information, provided it is not overly intrusive or overwhelming is generally beneficial. As for the colour, clearly Mercedes requested Turquoise for brand reasons. I wonder if th…

> some indication that a vehicle is driving autonomously is useful information to everyone around them I'm genuinely curious - what are you thinking when you say this? I don't know what I'd do with that information. It shouldn't make me drive differently - e.g. not be aggressive to see if I can invoke reaction(s) in the autonomous system, and I should already be driving w/ due care.

Humans are pretty good at pattern recognition. Any experienced human driver learns to predict the behavior of other drivers using subtle cues. With time I'm sure they'll all learn to use this information in many nuanced ways as well. Self driving cars likely will as well.

Re: Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> some indication that a vehicle is driving autonomously is useful information to everyone around them I'm genuinely curious - what are you thinking when you say this? I don't know what I'd do with that information. It shouldn't make me drive differently - e.g. not be aggressive to see if I can invoke reaction(s) in the autonomous system, and I should already be driving w/ due care.

If they get deadlocked in a intersection or something and can’t make a decision I know I should go around them

[deleted]

Re: Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

#114
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many cars have autosteer at that level, once my silly minivan is on the freeway it can lane follow and adaptive cruise can go down to zero if necessary, and knows the speed limit and adjusts as necessary.

You have an Odyssey (the best minivan), I take it? I think that's the only one that can properly lane center. Other vans just have lane exit prevention. There are some differences between Honda's and Tesla's implementations that Tesla owners appreciate.

The Kia Carnival - it seems to lane center just fine, but maybe the Odyssey can do better.

When looking, the Odyssey just didn't have the price/value ratio, it really needs an update and refresh. The Sienna just doesn't exist.

Re: Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

#115
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many cars have autosteer at that level, once my silly minivan is on the freeway it can lane follow and adaptive cruise can go down to zero if necessary, and knows the speed limit and adjusts as necessary.

You have an Odyssey (the best minivan), I take it? I think that's the only one that can properly lane center. Other vans just have lane exit prevention. There are some differences between Honda's and Tesla's implementations that Tesla owners appreciate.

I'm not the GP, but newer Hyundais seem to do a good job at this as well. And by extension this probably applies to Kias too.

Re: Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

#116
post #8

I think this idea makes some sense, in a mixed-traffic world where some vehicles are autonomous and others are not, some indication that a vehicle is driving autonomously is useful information to everyone around them. Additional situational information, provided it is not overly intrusive or overwhelming is generally beneficial. As for the colour, clearly Mercedes requested Turquoise for brand reasons. I wonder if th…

> some indication that a vehicle is driving autonomously is useful information to everyone around them I'm genuinely curious - what are you thinking when you say this? I don't know what I'd do with that information. It shouldn't make me drive differently - e.g. not be aggressive to see if I can invoke reaction(s) in the autonomous system, and I should already be driving w/ due care.

> I'm genuinely curious - what are you thinking when you say this?

As a pedestrian, I always try to make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them. It would be nice to know that the car is doing the driving.

Re: Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this to be such a weird take - I just drove from San Diego -> LA with my Tesla doing 90+% of the freeway driving (I only have the free autosteer, so I have to handle exits, etc.). I have been in multiple rides through SF in friends' Teslas where they did not have to intervene at any point. Is Tesla FSD ready to replace human drivers? It is not. Is it smoke and mirrors? No - there is a mountain of evidence that…

If you still have to keep your hands on the wheel, can’t watch movies or read books, etc., what is even the point?

I have several times been a passenger in a car where I wished the human driver would enable autosteer. It is disconcerting to have the lane warning alarm go off five times in a 30 minute span.

I don't think most people realize how erraticly they drive.

But five warnings in 30 minutes could just be 15 or 20 seconds of inattention. So more than 99% full attention. A driver assist that just smooths things out only 0.1% of the time could save the day a lot.

Re: Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

#118
post #13

Surprised to learn it's not tesla or comma with the first level 3 driving system approved for sale in the US. Would never have guessed Mercedes would beat them to it.

It's tough when you dogmatically refuse to use lidar! For Elmo, since the human eye doesn't have lidar, camera arrays are sufficient to achieve L3

I know almost nothing about cars and so assumed LiDAR sensors are just prohibitively expensive for Tesla to install in every car. But then years later I learned that every modern iPhone has a LiDAR camera.

Still don't know how to think about this - how is it possible for a phone to have LiDAR (barely utilized) but it's too expensive to have them in such a critical setup as an autonomous vehicle.

Re: Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance frauds would target those vehicles.

Would they? I imagine those cars would be almost guaranteed to record the entire encounter.

I hope that if we do end up with most/many cars recording everything (with several sensors) we will at least get a “report reckless driver” button that will send the recording to highway patrol and be allowed as evidence.

Re: Mercedes gets approval for turquoise automated driving lights

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mercedes has a long history of innovation in driver assistance tech. For example: “ 1999: Mercedes introduced "Distronic", the first radar-assisted ACC,[8] on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W220)[9][10] and the CL-Class.[11]” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_cruise_control#:~:t... . It was not as well marketed/hyped has the Tesla of today, but you could buy an S-class that would do much of the work for you in tra…

"Mercedes has a long history of innovation" Period. They are one of the companies that develops massively expensive flagship products that change the industry.

Yea Mercedes is more than luxury. Stuff they put in cars usually is 10 years ahead of being standard or options in most other vehicles.
Post reply on HN