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Self-Driving Car Makers Prepare to Blame “Jaywalkers”

usa.streetsblog.org

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Re: Self-Driving Car Makers Prepare to Blame “Jaywalkers”

#2
While I appreciate how the article brings up the history of the use of roads, times do change. Despite their dire last sentence, humans have always altered their behavior for the sake of their created machines. This is a trade-off with progress. This is why we have rules to allow shared use of the road.

Automated cars are simply a new addition to this. Travel to countries where there are no enforced road rules and see how efficiently traffic flows. It's horrible. The idea that we don't want to change behaviors for new tools is silly. If that's really their assertion, they need to stop posting in the internet and only share their news in the public square, that they walked too.

Re: Self-Driving Car Makers Prepare to Blame “Jaywalkers”

#3
> “What we tell people is, ‘Please be lawful and please be considerate,’” Andrew Ng, a machine learning researcher whose venture fund invests in driverless startups, told Bloomberg.

This is like web developers criticizing users for using their website "wrong". Unless Andrew Ng has found a way to eliminate all crime on Earth, then I sure hope the startups he's investing in don't actually count on "people being lawful", and they make sure their cars are safe even when people aren't lawful.

Re: Self-Driving Car Makers Prepare to Blame “Jaywalkers”

#5
post #2

While I appreciate how the article brings up the history of the use of roads, times do change. Despite their dire last sentence, humans have always altered their behavior for the sake of their created machines. This is a trade-off with progress. This is why we have rules to allow shared use of the road. Automated cars are simply a new addition to this. Travel to countries where there are no enforced road rules and se…

It is not a change in behaviour what is sought but a change in accountability. Even today you are expected to behave predictable. However it is not punishable by death today. Here in Germany you are always civilly accountable to a great deal when colliding with a weaker obstacle because the mere existence of a car puts a greater risk on pedestrians.

Re: Self-Driving Car Makers Prepare to Blame “Jaywalkers”

#8
In many European cities it's quite common for pedestrians to pass on red (which is considered more of a warning), even in front of cop cars. I've also seen cops on foot cross the street on red.

And I've seen quite a number cross the street randomly among traffic, some of them barely able to move (old, ...)

Re: Self-Driving Car Makers Prepare to Blame “Jaywalkers”

#9
This prompted me to look up US pedestrian deaths. Some interesting numbers:

"According to the GHSA report, 74 percent of pedestrian fatalities happen at night, and 72 percent of those killed were not crossing at intersections."

"The GHSA report indicated that 15 percent of pedestrians killed each year are hit by a drunk driver, while 34 percent of pedestrians killed are legally drunk themselves."

I'd say we should put in more crosswalks and add lights and reflectors, but I've almost been hit twice by cellphone-distracted drivers in one like that in my neighborhood.

https://www.npr.org/2017/03/30/522085503/2016-saw-a-record-i...

Re: Self-Driving Car Makers Prepare to Blame “Jaywalkers”

#10
post #8

In many European cities it's quite common for pedestrians to pass on red (which is considered more of a warning), even in front of cop cars. I've also seen cops on foot cross the street on red. And I've seen quite a number cross the street randomly among traffic, some of them barely able to move (old, ...)

Same here in Boston. While I'm interested in self-driving cars if they can actually save lives, I'm not interested in restricting people's ability to walk about freely.

Also it seems that some companies blatantly lie about their capabilities and would face criminal charges if they were humans driving on public roads.

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