Guest Post by Eric Peters
I recently test drove a new car with an autopilot system. Turn on the cruise control and the car not only maintains whatever speed you set, it also steers itself through curves and keeps the car from wandering out of its lane.
You are supposed to keep your hands on the wheel, of course. But who wouldn’t be tempted to take them off?
Just to see?
Well, one thing I saw was that the system works (in a clumsy, overcautious old person sort of way) until it doesn’t see. A klaxon sounds; a flashing yellow display appears advising that the auto-pilot system has disabled itself because it lost track of the road.
Because the sensors – the electronic eyes which scan the road, so as to keep the vehicle in its lane and (hopefully) out of the ditch – became suddenly glaucomic for one reason or another. It happens in bright daylight – glare, perhaps? – and also when it’s rainy (fog, one assumes).
Ice build up is a problem in the winter, if you can’t park overnight indoors. And even if you can, once you’re out on the road, if the air temperature is well below freezing, ice can and will form on the car’s exposed exterior surfaces – including the surfaces of the sensors which are critical to the operation of these self-driving technologies.
But I’ve also had a test car literally come to a dead stop in the middle of the road, for reasons known only to the code. It happened on a bright, clear day. I almost had dashboard for lunch – I never buckle up for saaaaaaaaaaafety – because the sudden halt was not expected.
I am able to type all of this because it was my good luck that day no Kenworth was behind me when the car I was in decided to brake violently and stop in the middle of the road – my attempts to countermand this by mashing the accelerator pedal being as futile as Justin Beiber punching a brick wall.
Point being, these systems are fallible.
As are we, of course. But there is a big difference between running off the road because you weren’t paying attention and running off the road because the car wasn’t – or no longer could.
Particularly when the car is being counted on to not run off the road. And when you – the erstwhile driver – have been encouraged (whether tacitly or overtly) to pay less or no attention to the car’s progress.
This is the never-mentioned Catch 22 of these automated driving systems. On the one hand, people are still expected to keep their hands on the wheel – and their eyes on the road.
On the other hand, technology is tempting them not to.
Otherwise, what is the point? If you have to pay attention – or are expected to – then the automated driving tech is useless at worst and a distraction at best. It is also an expense, but never mind that.
A part-time driver is like a part-time pregnancy.
You either is – or you isn’t.
If you isn’t, then the tech had better work – your life literally depends on it. If it cannot be depended on to work – all the time – then you had better be ready to intervene, assuming your life has value to you.
This is like not having your cake – or eating it, either.
It places people in an impossible position. Who’s responsible, ultimately, for controlling the vehicle and the consequences, if the vehicle becomes uncontrollable? People are being encouraged to hand off more and more control over the car to technology, but the tech doesn’t get the ticket – or the felony indictment/lawsuit – when the car runs someone over.
Now factor in the absence of interventionary controls – a steering wheel, brake pedal. This is actively being considered, both by the car industry and Uncle (see here), on the usual egg-breaking being necessary to make the omelettes basis.
On the upside, we’ll know who – or rather, what – to blame, post mortem.
But that is cold comfort (literally) when your mortal remains are lying on a slab awaiting the embalming machine because there was nothing you could do when the tech hiccuped – and the car took a nosedive off the road, carrying you along for the ride.
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My 72 year old father can’t wait for self driving cars. He’ll buy the first fully autonomous one sold. Said it will allow him to drive to town until he dies.
I told him to keep his will updated, I don’t want to go through probate.
I’m not kidding.
As an aside, updating his will won’t help you avoid probate. It’s recommended that he puts his assets into a revocable trust instead. This will help to distribute assets upon his passing, as well as avoiding a lengthly probate and possibly having the judge rule against those named as beneficiaries in the will.
How does Helen Kellers and Stevie Wonder’s driving be alike? They both drive with one hand on the wheel and one on the road….
Self-driving vehicles are pure fantasy for the techno-narcissists. They will never come to fruition for the simple reason that there would be an infinite number of variables to account for when programming the software. Every intersection, parking lot, and new construction would be impossible to account for. Imagine a Wal-Mart or Target parking lot on Black Friday where all these vehicles would need to “communicate” with each other. Impossible. Like I said….techno-narcissism.
Although I would enjoy seeing Elon Musk hit the Interstate on-ramp at 75mph, in the rain, during rush hour, surrounded by 18 wheelers, in one of his electric vehicles that have the purported “automatic self-downloading software patches” to correct for errors. I might even buy a ticket to see that. If I could get a seat out of the rain, of course.
Also, since conspiracy theories go over big on this site, I would like to add that Stevie Wonder has most of his sight but decided on the ‘blindness’ schtick based on the success of Ray Charles.
I GUARANTEE that there has already been legislation drafted that will absolve all autonomous-driving-vehicle manufacturers from liability in the event of an accident caused by failure of the car. I suspect that a fund, similar to the bullshit vaccine fund will be established, and will be funded by purchasers and riders of these vehicles, much in the same way as vaccine “consumers” (aka – forced victims) pay into that fund. Likely there may even be a secret “autonomous vehicle court” like the “vaccine court” that keeps proceedings and testimony away from the general public, keeps “fault” decisions secret, keeps root cause findings secret, and allows the car manufacturers to never have to worry about the harm and deaths their products are causing – just like bigPharma enjoys today.
Yep. ‘nough said.
The knuckleheads in my office are all for this. They are telling me that the insurance companies will eventually price me out of my old car forcing me into the autonomous nirvana. These are software engineers that are bright, but couldn’t use common sense to tear their way out of a paper bag.
My fear is that all this shit gets mandated and pushes the price out of reach which I think is the ultimate goal. It’s all part of the Green plan. Fewer cars, fewer parking lots etc. They expect the cars to run around as a Uber service and you won’t own one. It will just drop you off at work. I was discussing this with one of them whose wife was pregnant. I told him, dude, your wife just called from home and she is in labor. What are you going to do, wait on an ambulance to pick her up which is quicker than waiting on “your” car and pay an extra $2K for the privilege? By the way, how are you getting there?
Blank stares…
Anyone who does not wear a seat belt is a moron. Not saying it should be illegal, just saying that not wearing one makes you an idiot.
A member of my extended family was a highway patrolman for decades, and attended untold road fatalities. He said this re seatbelts – out of all the accidents and fatal crashes he attended – “I never unbuckled a dead man”. Every. Single. Person. Wearing. A. Belt. Survived. No exceptions.
3 friends of mine were in a low speed confrontation with a tree. Maybe 15 mph, no seatbelts, just fucking around. The injury list is extreme and includes lacerations, head injurys, broken neck, herniated discs and on it goes. Always wear a seatbelt.
A friends wife died wearing a seat belt and the belt was the primary cause of death. She was driving her car at 30 mph when a dog ran in front of the car. She swerved to miss the animal and hit a telephone pole. The seat belt kept her from hitting the steering wheel and windshield but did not keep her heart from impacting her sternum at 30 mph and causing it to rupture. Picture a water balloon hitting a wall at 30 mph. So, yes, seat belts can kill. Additionally, I know people that didn’t wear seat belts in accidents where there was significant damage to both vehicles. The passengers of both vehicles had some minor injuries but none that required a visit to a hospital.
Long story short. No two accidents are the same. Plenty of people die due to the use seat belts. Mostly children because they can’t be easily removed from the back seats of cars that involve water. But some adults die like the woman above. Of course, the government will never admit this. Plenty of people survive accidents without wearing seat belts as well. Again, the government for obvious reasons will never admit this either. Can’t have laws that kill people you know….
I am 66 years old. Have never worn a seat belt as a safety precaution only wear one when there is a huge presence of ticket writers in force. In essence to avoid having to pay a fine to the government leeches.
I’ve had my share of involvement in accidents, both as a passenger and as a driver. Some where there was major body damage to the vehicle. Never got a scratch. The same for passengers involved.
Yet, amazingly, I have and they managed to survive.
I am sick of “features” that behave like bugs. I feel like i am driving my last new vehicle. Its stripped but still has too much bullshit, and they are only getting worse. I need an 8cyl towing beast, not a 4cyl turbo.
My wifes 4wd explorer got stuck in a parking lot because the computer wont let the wheels spin. As i tried to turn around in the lot on snow one of the wheels spun, and it just stopped and sank into the snow. You need a computer science degree to find the ‘turn that shit off’ feature. What good is 4wd if it causes you to get stuck? Any 2wd car with wheels could have turned around in 5 seconds. I spent 45 minutes getting it out of that lot.
My ram constantly wants to put itself in park. Fucking irritating. Cant turn that off. Shift too fast, no foot on brake, or open the door to see when backing into tight areas, all cause it to go into park. No seatbelt to drive ten feet? Park it goes. Wtf. I also dont need a cue from my radio i need to clik every fucking start. And it is as stripped as they made them. The 2019s have so much worse features.
So what to do? Buy this out and drive the wheels off it and hope i am done towing before it wears out? Or buy something not up to the task? An older top quality reliable 4wd truck is hard to impossible to find. I dont want to be under hoods any more. Or get an old truck and start building? Guaranteeing i’m under the hood daily. Fucking cunts ruining the automobile. You cant buy a functional gas can any more, and soon you wont be able to get a functional vehicle.
And all of it because of a fake problem. Not a real problem even, a straight up lie of a fake ass co2 issue.
Nice rant, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and feel the exact same way.
Oh, to find in a barn, something like a ’72 Buick LeSabre, salvageable, to get running.
Or some similar land barge.
You know the kind. The ones that got about 8 mpg, but go like a bat out of hell when all 8 cylinders are firing.
A real large road beast, made of strong steel, with all the weight of an M1 tank. Confederate flag bumper sticker.
Drive that prick around, just flipping off all the Subaru, Prius, Tesla, Leaf, and SmartCar owners.
The typical buggies owned by LibProg far left Dummycrats. Lesbomobiles.
Or just zero in on any autonomous car made by Google, out of spite.
Give ’em a nudge from behind, or get alongside of them, and do a quick jerk of the steering wheel,
to pinball them miserable pricks, and send them careening into a ditch, a telephone pole, or a tree.
Wouldn’t willfully engage in demolition derby tactics just for the fun of it, in normal times.
But, then, I’m just daydreaming, whilst thinking of the rat race rush hour idiots I jockey with, for position,
on every commute on work days. Then again, these aren’t really normal times anymore, are they?
Mad Max IV, anyone. I have some old hockey gear I can wear, while making my getaway out of Detroit and it’s surrounding suburbs when TSHTF.
I wonder how many here connect this post to the previous posts about the Boeing 737-Max crashes?
It’s really the same exact issue, one automotive, the other aeronautical.
A sensor programmed to keep the airplane nose from going up too much, dives the plane into a crash, and the pilots don’t know how to override it. Oh, and the manual forgot to mention it too.