Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives • Hacker News Board

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#401

Post by redox99 » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 1:24 AM UTC

uv-depression wrote: post #386

redox99 wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unnecessary is a very strong word. It's also unnecessary to have your own private house, sharing it with other people would be more efficient.

Private houses aren't killing tens of thousands a year.

You can argue all day whether cars are good or bad. That's not my point. My point is that pretending public transport is equivalent to cars if you have good enough infrastructure is silly. They are different experiences, each with their own tradeoffs. And those tradeoffs matter differently to different people.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#402

Post by stouset » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 1:24 AM UTC

fenwick67 wrote: post #389

IMO the benchmark to pass will be to show it has better safety than the average sober, non-speeding, non-phone-using, seatbelt-wearing driver. IDK how that could even feasibly be shown but that's when people will actually start going all-in on it. Otherwise I will simply meet those criteria myself for free.

Bordering on zero human drivers fit that profile. The competition to AVs isn’t a mythical race of flawless humans. It’s the drunk, speeding, distracted idiots who currently operate motor vehicles (e.g., us).

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#403

Post by loeg » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 1:24 AM UTC

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #364

david-gpu wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It is exactly what he is saying. He's justifying "drivers intentionally try[ing] to drive [GP] off the road or hit [GP]."

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#404

Post by speedstyle » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 1:26 AM UTC

phoghed wrote: post #276

giantg2 wrote: post #234

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…

> It's not enough to have data, you also have to have societal buy-in. You already have it, people want this. > Waymo says it has 170 million miles and I found 2 fatal accidents it was involved in (fault doesn't matter as fault is not included in the other stat either). Looks like the average is about 1.3 fatalities per 100 million miles, and about 1 per 100 million miles for CDLs. This doesn't seem that impressive.…

> people want this.

Could you justify this? e.g. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2024.2325386 (N=1890):

"What first comes to mind when you hear the term self-driving vehicles?" (coded free-text) 17% positive, 34% neutral, 49% negative

"How would you feel about riding in a self-driving vehicle instead of the existing ways you travel?" 28% comfortable, 15% neutral, 53% uncomfortable

"How would you feel about using the roads alongside self-driving vehicles?" 29% comfortable, 20% neutral, 49% uncomfortable

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#405

Post by loeg » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 1:26 AM UTC

socalgal2 wrote: post #357

throw0101a wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fewer than drivers, given that drivers tend to ignore the rules of the road more per a Danish government study: * https://politiken.dk/danmark/art7185605/Rygterne-om-cykliste... * Via: https://archive.is/https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/... And perhaps more drivers should take up some cycling as it would make them better drivers (per a UK insurance company) * https://archive.is/https://www.forbes.com/sites/ca…

Ridiculous and trivially provably false. (maybe Danish are different) Go to any intersection in SF or LA. Set up a camera. Count the number of cars and cyclists that break a traffic law. Cars will be 5-10% breaking the laws. Cyclists will be 95-97% breaking the laws.

This is a great example of confirmation bias.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#406

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 1:28 AM UTC

bshaughn wrote: post #251

giantg2 wrote: post #234

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…

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…

[deleted]

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#407

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 1:28 AM UTC

eldaisfish wrote: post #311

jeffbee wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the perfect expression of chronic windshield brain. If you are driving anywhere near the limits of dynamic stability on a public road, then you are already driving dangerously. Also, computerized stability control works better than 99.99% of human drivers.

i don't think you fully understand how many edge cases there really are, and the full range of conditions people here expect autonomous cars or even driver assist systems to function in. As a very simple example, i sat my driving test in the Netherlands. Literally the first thing my driving instructor taught me was that tires have finite grip and that changing speed or direction requires grip. Doing both at the same…

[deleted]

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#408

Post by david-gpu » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 1:28 AM UTC

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #364

david-gpu wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I am not putting words in his mouth. I am pointing out the logical error in this memetic argument that cyclists are tired of reading again and again.

Whenever we mention that drivers harass and kill cyclists, there is somebody retorting that "cyclists don't follow the rules of the road", as if it somehow justified road violence against all cyclists, law abiding or not. It is a complete non-sequitur that pops up every time we point at the main source of death and dismemberment in our cities: drivers. [0] [1]

[0] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=351000...

[1] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=131001...