Uh oh, another Tesla autopilot crash fatality

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

Would people use auto drive if it obeyed the speed limit?

If someone was truly confident in their car's ability to drive itself, why not offer free insurance?

In the future where cars are safe enough that I can pay no attention, then I would accept a car that drives the speed limit. Arriving at my destination 2 minutes slower, but relaxed, is completely worth it. Besides, we'll all be arriving at our destinations much sooner when congestion is alleviated by autonomous driving.

Insurance is still necessary regardless of the confidence in autopilot. What if an uninsured motorist hits you? Insurance isn't just liability in case you screw up, and the possibility of causing an accident will always remain, no matter how good the technology gets.

Originally Posted by jamesqf

And regardless, Tesla is the entity with deep pockets :-)

What does deep pockets have to do with responsibility?

Originally Posted by RedDevil

That's the point. If Autopilot is driving, it is the driver and should take all penalties involved.
We will see jails filled with Teslas

Who is responsible for safe travel on a commercial jet? Regardless of what sensors may malfunction, or what safety and efficiency features are implemented, the human pilot is responsible. There are relatively few instances of crashes that were unavoidable, and not attributable to pilot error.

Regardless, Tesla never said the feature is to encourage inattention to driving, only that it aids the safe operation of normal driving. Since the autopilot can react to situations faster than a human, it adds safety, especially since it can be instantly overridden by the human pilot.

I wouldn't worry about the legality if I were Elon. Having an overall more safe vehicle doesn't make it susceptible to increased liability assuming it actually is more safe. Take seatbelts as an example. Some people have sustained greater injury from wearing seatbelts than if they weren't wearing them at all, but overall, it has prevented more injury. You can't win a lawsuit against Toyota for installing a seat belt that bruised your chest when you crashed the car into a wall.

[botsapper]

Not another high profile Autopilot case. An ex-Fed-Ex driver of a tractor trailer fell asleep at the wheel, ran a red light and caused a bad collision with a Tesla Model S at an intersection. The tractor trailer collided with the Model S, continued on to break power lines, ruptured its diesel tanks and caused a power outage in the neighborhood. The Tesla Model S Autopilot was NOT engaged but the Tesla body structure zones were strong enough and its safety features helped the 76 year old driver survive the massive collision. He did suffer serious but was in stable condition.
http://6abc.com/traffic/tractor-trai...n-del/1449928/

[Frank Lee]

Here's a thought: How about just driving the ****ing thing?

If you think you are on the road so much you can't be expected to control your vehicle, you probably are. Move closer, ride a chauffered vehicle like a bus or train, whatever.

Movies are best enjoyed in a theater or home theater. DO YA THINK???

If you go 90 mph, when you hit something it's gonna be a hard hit.

People and their electronic nannys... the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

[Frank Lee]

Besides, we'll all be arriving at our destinations much sooner when congestion is alleviated by autonomous driving.

IT WON'T BE.

IT. WON'T. BE.

With every new lane built, with every new road, with every new airport or port, with every method that supposedly is for alleviating congestion, comes even worse congestion. You see, breeders have decided they are comfortable- even desireous- of a certain level of congestion. Any alleviation effort simply leads to increased reproduction.



Ahhh dat's shoooo nysh!

VW's vision for L.A. 2057 is much the same as Idiocracy's:

[Xist]

Then-ex-Fed-Ex? You present more details than the article does and I cannot find additional information. I happened to see this: Who's responsible when an autopilot car crashes? | WMDT.com Maryland-Delaware

All that it really says is Google does not have a steering wheel or pedals in its cars, but it is still testing the technology.

Couldn't they put transponders in each corner? No identifiable information, just "Front-left corner?" How far would that need to reach, a couple hundred feet? Then they always know where other [equipped] vehicles are.

[Xist]

Frank, how much would you charge to drive someone around?

How much more to smile and act polite?

[RedDevil]

But we need to go 90 mph or we'd never catch Pokémon...

[Xist]

We need a car that has a "catch all of them!" feature!

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Xist

Frank, how much would you charge to drive someone around?

How much more to smile and act polite?

My fee is usually a hamburger or pizza.

[redpoint5]

I know I've said it before, Frank, but in the long term, under-population is a greater threat than our immediate over-population.

The wealthier countries get, the less they tend to reproduce. Japan has a negative population growth that is putting strain on entitlements. That is a sign of things to come. Retiring Baby Boomers are going to cripple our entitlements unless there are changes, and people aren't going to like those changes.