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Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

spectrum.ieee.org

361–370 of 718 posts

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#361

Better driver education and higher test standards would save lives too. So would banning alcohol. None of these solutions, including automated cars, will be mandated any time soon. It's not enough to have data, you also have to have societal buy-in. Interesting that Waymo chooses to compare accident rates with the average driver vs the rideshare drivers their cars replace. The numbers wouldn't look as impressive beca…

Insurance underwriters may make societal buy-in easier when rates are vastly different but that may take quite a while to hit critical mass so both drivers are self driven

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How selfish. Why should I, someone who wants a safer AV, subsidize those who are riskier drivers? Extremely selfish.

Is this your first introduction to an insurance pool?

Not the same at all.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The human brain was not designed for a task which requires hours of siting down doing mostly nothing while being hyperfocused the entire time ready to take over in an instant on the rare occasion something happens. While running or cycling your brain is actively engaged keeping yourself upright and avoiding obstacles which keeps you alert.

> The human brain was not designed for a task which requires hours of siting down doing mostly nothing while […] The average one-way commute time in the US is less than half an hour: * https://www.census.gov/topics/employment/commuting/guidance/... If you can't pay attention for less than 30 minutes should you really be operating a multi-ton death machine?

The average person can't last even the length of an elevator trip without reaching for social media.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, in that case, you would certainly be excused for trying to kill one or two of them.

You don't understand. He has seen some cyclists blow a stop sign, so he is entitled to endanger the life of any cyclist he comes across.

He didn't say that, and you shouldn't put words in his mouth like that.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A horrifying number of people flagrantly use their phones while driving. Im not talking about peaking at a text or google maps, but straight up scrolling tik tok while driving. At the end of the day there is going to be a lowest common denominator of selfish morons on the road, and the two practical solutions I see are 1) aggressive surveillance state grade distracted driving enforcement 2) self driving cars. I used…

It doesn't have to be a surveillance state for enforcement. Just preventing repeat offenders would practically remove that lowest denominator. For example, I knew a guy in high school who totaled 4 cars and had other minor accidents in 2 years. There's no reason for that person to be allowed to operate a vehicle. On the prevention side, we could require more training. If you tried to enforce self driving cars, you'd…

> Just preventing repeat offenders would practically remove that lowest denominator.

That requires enforcement which no longer exists in many cities.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#366

Better driver education and higher test standards would save lives too. So would banning alcohol. None of these solutions, including automated cars, will be mandated any time soon. It's not enough to have data, you also have to have societal buy-in. Interesting that Waymo chooses to compare accident rates with the average driver vs the rideshare drivers their cars replace. The numbers wouldn't look as impressive beca…

Good point. Waymo is not comparing apples to apples here "At-fault" Waymo crashes on 35mph city roads driven only in good weather vs. all crashes regardless of fault for on all roads including highways driven in all weather conditions

(Ex-Waymo) Waymo tries really hard to compare apples to apple miles, considering a number of dimensions (weather, speed limits of the roads the miles are on, the specific cities, and more). This is one of the things that they feel distinguishes them in the space.

The data on https://waymo.com/safety/ reflects these apples to apples comparison.

They’ve also, when possible, done comparisons of the Waymo driver to an ideally attentive human driver. https://waymo.com/blog/2022/09/benchmarking-av-safety/

The biggest challenge is in sourcing the data. A lot of these datasets don't exist or have to be developed.

(The article itself, mixes and matches stats which is a common thing in general media).

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The knee-jerk conspiratorial reactions to new technology is depressing to see on HN. Do better.

The promise of tech has been that if we let it rip, we'll have a better democracy and living conditions for all. That promise has failed to materialise, for a variety of reasons. There is increased surveillance, enshittification, huge subscription fees, and upward pressure on climate change (directly linked to bitcoin mining then AI data centres). Then you get Musk lobbying against a city's plans to build a public tr…

Sorry, "tech" is not some catch-all for all the new things. "Tech" has given us wonderful new medicine and safer cars and faster internet.

Subscription fees? So "tech" should make producing a film ... free now? What exactly is your point?

Who exactly promised all these so-called benefits you keep saying you were lied about? The companies make products and services. Many, many people buy those things. Both sides are happy, transaction over. What "greater good" are you complaining about, exactly and who promised it to whom?

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The knee-jerk conspiratorial reactions to new technology is depressing to see on HN. Do better.

Yeah, it's just "new technology". Like those Flock cameras, I guess.

Well, Flock is great and has caught many murderers. What's your point?

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't wealthy people spent most of history paying someone else to drive for them? Driving yourself will become like horse riding, something you do on private property for sport rather than transport.

> Haven't wealthy people spent most of history paying someone else to drive for them? My understanding is that it is a legal and safety liability for them to drive. The driver is employed by and the car is owned by a company that the wealthy person founded and pays so if the driver hits & kills someone, the company gets sued for a bunch of money then the liability can be discharged in bankruptcy / isolated to the com…

Maybe I’m missing something. I can’t imagine that paying a chauffeur can be cheaper than umbrella insurance.
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