Chalk up another one for "Always follow instructions"...

[orange]

About 3 months ago the first fatality operating a 'semi-autonomous' vehicle occurred.

NO, not a self driving car...what we are talking about is the assisted braking safety systems you have seen in ads on TV, for cars like Mercedes-Benzes and on the Tesla S.

There IS a problem with these though.

They aren't currently very good at sensing LATERAL movement...in other words, objects traveling across the forward path of the vehicle.

The semi-trailer truck that crossed a divided highway did not register properly with the system that uses a combination of cameras and radar sensors and the car never braked.

To top it off, the deceased driver of the Tesla may have been watching a MOVIE, which is not legal for the driver in the first place.

Tesla recommends, as do all manufacturers with these systems, that you have to continue to perform your normal driving duties at all times and that semi-autonomous is not hands-free or self driving.



Summary and Moral: This system is very helpful, and should be used and work continued. One MORON ignoring the instructions and not paying attention can do a lot of damage to any good effort though.

 

[Lazarus Short]

Imagine the chance of one of those systems sensing a bicycle rider approaching at a ninety degree angle...

I remember the story, maybe an urban legend, of the fellow who bought a new motor home, took off, set the cruise control, and went to the kitchen to fix a sandwich...

 

[orange]

And another dude refused to take instructions from his mother the car and he too is finite...

remember the good old daze when your Firebird talked like Anthony Daniels of St. Elsewhere and you listened?

 

[Skywavebe]

No matter how smart a system is to drive even when there is no one in the car, there will always be people dumb enough to goof it up. They have to also make the car smarter than the driver and that will take time.
So how did the motor home do with no driver?

Remember the Airbus that was doing a low flyby. It thought the plane was landing and in the forest. It did not give the pilot any power when he asked for it. Doesn't seem to be too smart to me.
What if he was landing and had a runway incursion which happens all the time. These computer controlled planes are not that smart yet. What do you think it will be like with cars?