Locals reportedly frustrated with Waymo's self-driving cars • Hacker News Board

Re: Locals reportedly frustrated with Waymo's self-driving cars

#161

Post by loco5niner » Thu, Aug 30, 2018, 3:51 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #159

loco5niner wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slamming on your breaks when you don't need to and forcing everyone behind you to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting you is a bad idea. Smooth and predictable is safe.

Yeah, but you have to be following the car in front of you at a distance that takes into account your reaction time and the actual braking distance. This time, the guy slammed on his brakes because of a yellow light which is maybe not a good reason... but it could have easily been someone running the red light, some kid running out into the street after a ball, the car's wheel flying off, etc.

Already addressed this. see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17870971

Re: Locals reportedly frustrated with Waymo's self-driving cars

#162

Post by reaperducer » Thu, Aug 30, 2018, 4:42 PM UTC

crappants wrote: post #128

reaperducer wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This just demonstrates that you don't understand what speed limits are for. They're not some arbitrary number imposed on you to make your life inconvenient. In addition to being adjusted for the engineering of the road, they also create gaps in traffic allowing people to change lanes, or other people to enter traffic, or — in the case of roads with intersections — allow other people to make left turns, especially on…

That’s funny that the municipal speed limit for a 200 sq mile area including urban and rural densities is 30 mph. What a coincidence that most of the roads just so happen to have conditions that 30 mph is always the right speed. It’s 30 mph in the city which seems pretty reasonable but in fact seems too fast in some parts (this is an old non grid city)... meanwhile oh they bump it to 35 mph for a county road that is…

That’s funny that the municipal speed limit for a 200 sq mile area including urban and rural densities is 30 mph.

200 square miles where people want to make left turns and forming gaps in traffic make sense.

Unless you live in a city where no one ever makes a left turn; dogs, children, and sports balls are outlawed; and you're the only person on the road ever.

You do realize there are other people out there driving, don't you?

Re: Locals reportedly frustrated with Waymo's self-driving cars

#163

Post by vkjv » Thu, Aug 30, 2018, 5:19 PM UTC

jstanley wrote: post #48

vkjv wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every single time someone honks at me for this, I'm tempted to stay in place longer than necessary. Fortunately--most of the time--I think better of being this petty and passive aggressive.

If people are honking at you, are you sure you're being safe and not just being annoying ?

About as confident as I can be without having insight into their perspective. I'm mostly referring to right turn on red scenarios where I'm not comfortable with the risk. Although, the occasional honking immediately after a light turns green also occasionally happens.

Re: Locals reportedly frustrated with Waymo's self-driving cars

#164

Post by vkjv » Thu, Aug 30, 2018, 5:22 PM UTC

umvi wrote: post #57

jstanley wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people are honking at you, are you sure you're being safe and not just being annoying ?

Some people are very timid at things like left turns and roundabout entry because they are not confident in their judgment of oncoming car speed, etc. (mostly Americans on that second one; Europeans seem generally seem comfortable entering roundabouts).

They may also be uncertain what another driver will do. For example, turning right onto a two lane road may be safe if the right lane is open. However, despite it not being legal, a driver in the left lane may change lanes mid intersection. I'd prefer not to risk it to save myself a few seconds.

Re: Locals reportedly frustrated with Waymo's self-driving cars

#165

Post by antidesitter » Fri, Aug 31, 2018, 12:03 AM UTC

dwighttk wrote: post #134

jandrese wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the time I honk it is because someone is playing on their phone and have not noticed that the light turned green 5 seconds ago.

I have a friend who uses his phone at red lights and never goes until someone honks at him. Just leaves it up to them to watch for the light change.

You should encourage your friend to change their behavior.

Re: Locals reportedly frustrated with Waymo's self-driving cars

#166

Post by bryanlarsen » Mon, Sep 03, 2018, 2:42 AM UTC

Bizarro wrote: post #156

bryanlarsen wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The key is not to stop completely, it's to get down to a speed that's highly unlikely to be fatal to a pedestrian, 15-20 mph. So if you're on a street with obstructed sight lines, that means your max speed should be 15-20 mph.

Your just making stuff up. There will always be roads where objects obstruct sight lines and little Sally is going to get mowed down and killed because she screwed up and ran into the street when she shouldn't have. I know there's the big hatred of cars here on HN, but in the real world NOBODY thinks that way. Accidents do happen and it's going to be fatal because the pedestrian screwed up.

Google it yourself. The fatality rate at different speeds. Below 30 kph fatalities are very rare.