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

UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 116 posts

Re: UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January

#91

Post by andygates »

sudorank wrote: post #26
knocte wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wrt 1), I think it's preferable to study each scarce accident very closely to avoid it to happen again (like it happens in the aviation industry) rather than just being scared of the technology and remaining on the status-quo of allowing so many casualties each year because we still allow humans to drive.

Exactly, once they get these vehicles right accidents will be a pretty rare thing. Until then it has to be a case of "tough" if you want to sue. The Victorians had the right attitude to future technology and it's something we need to get back to.

No, they had horrible workplace diseases and injuries and a dreadful attitude to health. If your business model includes telling potential litigants to man up, you're not going into space today.

Re: UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January

#92

Post by andygates »

lotu wrote: post #42
notahacker wrote: post #24

For the last decade or so, human learner drivers in the UK have had to pass a video "hazard perception test" based on their ability to recognise potential developing hazards (kids playing near the roads, a cyclist confronted by a line of parked cars, a vehicle approaching a junction onto your lane) at a very early point before their movements make their entry into the roadway inevitable. This strikes me as something…

If you watch this video you can see that Google's cars doe exactly this. You even see the car pick up on hand signals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk3oc1Hr62g Realistically you would have to modify the software to pass the test for stupid reasons, for example the vehicle might refuse to function at all without it's LIDAR, insisting on slowing to stop and pulling over, where the video wants to continue driving.

Came here to link to theis same video. It would be interesting to watch the Google algorithm run through a similar test (not the actual video, which lacks depth and so won't make a decent model). The chattering classes would be much enlightened.

Re: UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January

#93

Post by 7952 »

lmm wrote: post #80
dm2 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I assumed but did a quick Google Maps search and it appears to be mostly a grid at first glance, unclear wording, "The UK's roads are quite a different test bed to many West coast US cities where there is no grid pattern, roads are smaller, and curvey."

Where were you looking at, Milton Keynes? Peterborough? I'm struggling to think of anywhere gridlike in the UK, though I'm sure some of the '60s towns have them.

Salisbury had a grid pattern back in the 13th century. But mostly small roads follow old field boundaries that can be very old and bendy. Even new developments will fit into old field layouts and have curved roads.

Re: UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January

#94

Post by 7952 »

Buttons840 wrote: post #32
notahacker wrote: post #24

For the last decade or so, human learner drivers in the UK have had to pass a video "hazard perception test" based on their ability to recognise potential developing hazards (kids playing near the roads, a cyclist confronted by a line of parked cars, a vehicle approaching a junction onto your lane) at a very early point before their movements make their entry into the roadway inevitable. This strikes me as something…

That's true. I think of turning right at a crosswalk where some pedestrian is really anxious for their turn to walk, so they're standing right on the edge of the curb. I always pay careful attention to them and rely on my human intuition of body language, eye contact, etc, until I feel comfortable that they're going to remain on the edge of the curb instead of steeping out in front of me during my turn. A robot can't…

Arguably the pedestrian should be comfortable to cross and expect you to wait for them. You could trust a robot to respect the pedestrians rights and not get angry.

Re: UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January

#95

Post by smcl »

pjc50 wrote: post #90
lmm wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where were you looking at, Milton Keynes? Peterborough? I'm struggling to think of anywhere gridlike in the UK, though I'm sure some of the '60s towns have them.

Glasgow is gridlike; I was there for the Games and it felt like a very un-British street layout. But I don't think anywhere in the UK has grid numbering ("42nd street" etc). We don't do the continental thing of naming streets after significant dates either. The UK certainly has plenty of surprising road layout, often involving roundabouts, oneway systems, medieval street plans, and roadworks.

I was gonna say that Glasgow city centre is pretty atypical - resembling US cities close enough that a few parts of World War Z (which were meant to be Philadelphia I think) were filmed there. But then I realised that Edinburgh's "New Town" (actually hundreds of years old) is a grid-layout too.

Re: UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January

#96

Post by danm_cc »

Buttons840 wrote: post #32
notahacker wrote: post #24

For the last decade or so, human learner drivers in the UK have had to pass a video "hazard perception test" based on their ability to recognise potential developing hazards (kids playing near the roads, a cyclist confronted by a line of parked cars, a vehicle approaching a junction onto your lane) at a very early point before their movements make their entry into the roadway inevitable. This strikes me as something…

That's true. I think of turning right at a crosswalk where some pedestrian is really anxious for their turn to walk, so they're standing right on the edge of the curb. I always pay careful attention to them and rely on my human intuition of body language, eye contact, etc, until I feel comfortable that they're going to remain on the edge of the curb instead of steeping out in front of me during my turn. A robot can't…

'A robot can't do this' - really? http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-41190-8...

Re: UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January

#97

Post by harty65 »

DanBC wrote: post #29
sysop073 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the distinction. If the UK is allowing tests of driverless cars, it must be allowing them on the roads, and of course "in January" means "starts in January", what else would it mean

"in January" could mean "only in January" rather than "for some unspecified length of time but starting in January".

However the very first line of the article say's "from January", which implies the latter.

Re: UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January

#98

Post by gsnedders »

smcl wrote: post #95
pjc50 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glasgow is gridlike; I was there for the Games and it felt like a very un-British street layout. But I don't think anywhere in the UK has grid numbering ("42nd street" etc). We don't do the continental thing of naming streets after significant dates either. The UK certainly has plenty of surprising road layout, often involving roundabouts, oneway systems, medieval street plans, and roadworks.

I was gonna say that Glasgow city centre is pretty atypical - resembling US cities close enough that a few parts of World War Z (which were meant to be Philadelphia I think) were filmed there. But then I realised that Edinburgh's "New Town" (actually hundreds of years old) is a grid-layout too.

New Town in Edinburgh and the modern city centre of Glasgow both date back to the mid-18th century. They're very unusual for the time insofar as they had a large plan for a large area.

Re: UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January

#100

Post by viraptor »

dm2 wrote: post #77
andyhmltn wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No he's saying the opposite. The UK does have a lot of narrow bending rounds and tiny country lanes :)

That's what I assumed but did a quick Google Maps search and it appears to be mostly a grid at first glance, unclear wording, "The UK's roads are quite a different test bed to many West coast US cities where there is no grid pattern, roads are smaller, and curvey."

This isn't an uncommon view once you get off the motorway and drive to towns: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.366804,-2.602688,3a,75y,24...

Two wide cars can't pass there, one of you has to go back to a place without the hedge. I'd like to see how that kind of negotiation is handled by self-driving cars.

Post reply on HN