Autonomous Vehicles Really Aren’t Perfect - Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Hate to say we told you so, but autonomous cars will not be an automatic lifesaver.

StreetsBlogCal - continues

 

I'm a bit confused to this report; if automated systems drive too much like people. Why would they program the car to drive like people? Yes you got to keep the can to the right, etc, etc, but why would you program the car to speed or take needless chances? That was one of the reasons I would be behind automated cars, they wouldn't be speeding. That's how you make the roads safer for all.

 

I can speak to this a little bit from my professional work. Early on that is indeed how cars were programmed: full stops at stoplights. Drive speed limit. Do not cross the yellow line if road is partially obstructed, instead wait for it to clear.

Result? Other drivers got extremely angry with cars waiting endlessly behind double parked vehicles, sometimes even assaulting the driverless car. Worse, other drivers expected human behavior, such as rolling stop sign stops, and would inadvertently rear end cars that they expected to keep moving.

after a bit the AV companies decided it would be smarter to try and mimic human behavior, only make sure to provide smart guidelines (like allowing cars to exceed limit by no more than 5pmh). Even so, compared with highway driving, it’s surprisingly hard to get a computer to choose a reaction to uncommon situations like cars parked end-in on a sidewalk or a spill being attended to by authorities .... they tend to freeze up, or try to slowly proceed through a situation that a human would go “nuh uh, ima take a u turn and go back around the block instead”.

 

Yeah I'm sure it is pretty difficult programming and breaking the law too, but really that's where things got to change. I really don't want AI cars driving more than the speed limit on urban roads. That should be a "bargaining point the city should make. Make the right for AI cars to speed based on how well and safe the current programming is going. I've seen moments where the things aint going right and I'm sure you have seen more than me, but I really think things should be toned down a click or two. Yeah it's going to piss drivers off but why should a car doing the legal and correct thing be the one blamed? Programming from the driver that gets pissed off is better? All you're going to do is raise the tempo out there even more. Not a good idea.

 

Interesting. I skipped past the blog to read the source they were paraphrasing https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/sel...e-most-crashes

It makes sense. Unless everything on, crossing, or near the road is autonomous there's always a chance that something unavoidable will happen.