Uh oh, another Tesla autopilot crash fatality

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Xist

Have I mentioned hitting an elk? It was a life-changing experience.

Especially for the elk :-)

What'd be even more useful would be a critter-prediction system. It's not uncommon to see deer close to the road - indeed, around my friends' place (located in a state game refuge) it's almost unusual NOT to see them. The problem is, you never know whether any particular deer is going to stand there grazing, run the other way, or jump out in front of you. So if your electronic critter-detection system could just predict that...

[rmay635703]

James don't go talking about that, my car with its 20 sensors,
will have in the future,
more IR sensors to pickup warm bodies around me.

Can't be giving them more ideas.

[Hersbird]

They gave us handheld air horns to discourage dog attacks at work (I'm a mailman). I also drive a deer infested canyon everyday and often deer will stand 2 feet off the side of the white line. I gave one a short blast of the air horn last week and it moved way faster then the normal truck horn ever moved one before.
Automatic air horns for both deer and distracted drivers would be cool.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

Automatic air horns for both deer and distracted drivers would be cool.

Boo yah.

I had a couple of Subarus, then a Honda Fit. When I beeped at bambi on my deer-infested nighttime commute in the Subies, bambi bolted. When I did the same in the Honda, bambi just stood there. I installed Subie horns on the Fit, problem solved.

But no horn would have prevented the one that ran out of the woods into the side of my car. I never saw it until it was running away after the impact.

[Xist]

So, we need to install a Y adapter on our brights to our horn?

[redpoint5]

I'd have thought critters would have evolved better street smarts by now. The ones that hang out in the road get hit, and the ones that have a healthy fear of cars would perpetuate their genes.

We need GMO wildlife!

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'd have thought critters would have evolved better street smarts by now.

Don't ask of critters what has not been achieved by humanity... Or software.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

Automatic air horns for both deer and distracted drivers would be cool.

You mean the deer get their own air horns to blast at distracted drivers?

Yes, we need air horns. I have deer running around on my property on a regular basis; in fact a lady totalled her car with one right in front of my house and I was sitting out there watching the whole thing. So in addition to the unmuffled motorcycles and mud trucks, boom cars, dump trucks, semis, airplanes, helicopters, mowers, trimmers, blowers, 14,000 commuters and tearers-around, and barking dogs, we need a little something to break the stillness.

[freebeard]

Xist -- on 1939 Chevrolets (for example) the horn had a two position switch, 'city' and 'country'.

[sendler]

1990 Mercedes S Class had a city and country horn switch.