“Police say the vehicle was being driven when a pedestrian tried to cross a highway at night and struck him.” But that wouldn’t be a story, would it?
I’m anything but a Tesla cheerleader, but this story is a picture perfect example of how the internet has ruined our ability to calculate risk and fucked our risk tolerance. “Man who was cold-stone sober ran over a pedestrian with a Kia in broad daylight.”, would be a blurb on your local news station, if it was reported at all.
Point being, my car is driven by me. If I kill someone it wouldn’t make news. Because a self-driving Tesla did it, AH! So which is truly more dangerous? I suspect there’s not enough data yet to day, and I’ll be fucked if I trust Tesla’s self reporting.
No, it doesn’t become okay, but the situation is quite different depending on the context surrounding the hit.
A pedestrian crossing a dark highway at night, is a completely different situation than someone being hit in a well lit downtown area or even a neighborhood.
Context does matter, even if it doesn’t make a difference for the outcome.
The thing is. If musk didnt insist on using vision only systems and used lidar or radar like evey other driving assist system… that person would have been seen by the system.
The thing is. If musk didnt insist on using vision only systems and used lidar or radar like evey other driving assist system… that person would have been seen by the system.
Are you sure about that?
The CHP said it reviewed dashcam footage of the crash showing the Tesla traveling around 70 miles per hour when the pedestrian walked onto the freeway from the right shoulder.
It also showed the “Tesla’s brakes being applied as the vehicle steered to the left in an effort to avoid the pedestrian,” it said in a statement on social media, as quoted by ABC 7. “Despite these evasive actions, the right front portion of the Tesla struck the individual.”
That certainly seems to me that the person was noticed and action was taken to avoid them. LIDAR isn’t going to make a difference for a person on the side of the road suddenly entering the roadway in front of the vehicle. Waymo vehicles use LIDAR, and a man was hit in Dallas by one just a couple months ago, despite the Waymo system both seeing them and slowing down.
Waymo has indicated that their vehicle was moving at 24mph and detected the pedestrian had entered the roadway on the other side, when it was about 150 feet away, and anticipated he might attempt to cross the street into the Waymo’s lane. It immediately slowed in anticipation of that crossing. According to security camera video, the man and a companion had just left a store, and the victim stepped into the street, and was struck from behind shortly after.
That person wasn’t even directly next to the Waymo entering the highway lanes like with this Tesla, it saw them when they were on the opposite side of the roadway and yet it still struck them.
LIDAR is not a magical solution to not hit people stepping into traffic to cross a road nowhere near a crosswalk.
Thats a lot of words attempting to put words in my mouth. I never said compelete avoidance could be made. But what reason can be made to be purposely limiting a system by removing information. The point of self driving vehicle is to be better than humans. So if they cant spot a person before a human, whats the point.
“Police say the vehicle was being driven when a pedestrian tried to cross a highway at night and struck him.” But that wouldn’t be a story, would it?
I’m anything but a Tesla cheerleader, but this story is a picture perfect example of how the internet has ruined our ability to calculate risk and fucked our risk tolerance. “Man who was cold-stone sober ran over a pedestrian with a Kia in broad daylight.”, would be a blurb on your local news station, if it was reported at all.
Tesla heavily leans into the idea that it is selling self driving cars, both parties are culpable.
Point being, my car is driven by me. If I kill someone it wouldn’t make news. Because a self-driving Tesla did it, AH! So which is truly more dangerous? I suspect there’s not enough data yet to day, and I’ll be fucked if I trust Tesla’s self reporting.
And yet… Hitting people with cars doesn’t become OK in certain times/places.
No, it doesn’t become okay, but the situation is quite different depending on the context surrounding the hit.
A pedestrian crossing a dark highway at night, is a completely different situation than someone being hit in a well lit downtown area or even a neighborhood.
Context does matter, even if it doesn’t make a difference for the outcome.
The thing is. If musk didnt insist on using vision only systems and used lidar or radar like evey other driving assist system… that person would have been seen by the system.
Are you sure about that?
That certainly seems to me that the person was noticed and action was taken to avoid them. LIDAR isn’t going to make a difference for a person on the side of the road suddenly entering the roadway in front of the vehicle. Waymo vehicles use LIDAR, and a man was hit in Dallas by one just a couple months ago, despite the Waymo system both seeing them and slowing down.
That person wasn’t even directly next to the Waymo entering the highway lanes like with this Tesla, it saw them when they were on the opposite side of the roadway and yet it still struck them.
LIDAR is not a magical solution to not hit people stepping into traffic to cross a road nowhere near a crosswalk.
Thats a lot of words attempting to put words in my mouth. I never said compelete avoidance could be made. But what reason can be made to be purposely limiting a system by removing information. The point of self driving vehicle is to be better than humans. So if they cant spot a person before a human, whats the point.
Not if they walked into a highway.
Whether hitting people with cars is a news story or not is the whole point. The point you skipped right over.