TexasCHLforum.com

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51645566

The above link details a stupid driver who died trusting his life to his self driving Tesla.

He was aware from multiple previous occasions, that his car wanted to drive itself into the barrier, and had even complained to Tesla about it.

Did this mean he was always in full control of his vehicle? No, he was playing a video game on his cellphone at the time of the crash. Prior to the crash he never touched the steering wheel or the brakes. Tesla said that the car wasn't designed to react correctly to the barrier. This is just another glaring example of why humans should be driving vehicles. There's too many variables in the real world for the software to handle.

Yes, this qualifies for a Darwin Award, Modern Technology edition.

When viewing the photo of the death car, I thought it was possible that the car had been cut up with the jaws of life by the first responders. Oh no, the front clip (everything ahead of the firewall) went one way, and the rear of the car went another. It's bad enough that the car steered itself into the barrier and killed its owner, but think about how other non-Tesla sedans look after a crash. They have much more structural integrity, even after hitting a fixed object at 71 MPH, as in this case.

SIA

https://www.wired.com/story/ubers-self- ... d-jaywalk/

Credit the above link to wired.com, dated 11/5/19.

Uber's software had no ability to deal with a jaywalking human.

People......they're so darned unpredictable.

SIA

To the autonomous vehicle industry, these deaths are "collateral damage ".

SIA

Self driving (autonomous) vehicles give me the creeps. Supposedly the computer
programming gods have factored in EVERY conceivable scenario involved in driving,
so we, the unwashed masses, are supposed to buy into this.

First let me list some of the negative anecdotes SO FAR, with self driving vehicles.

1. Florida. A Tesla driver from Ohio was letting the car do the driving while he was
allegedly watching a movie on his DVD player. A tractor trailer failed to yield the right
of way, and did either a left turn or a U-turn in front of the Tesla. The Tesla ran under
the trailer, ripping the roof off, and decapitating its "driver".

Cause of crash: It was an overcast day, with gray skies. The 18 wheeler's trailer was white,
and the Tesla system could not tell the difference between the cloudy sky and the white trailer.

2. An auto test writer was driving an auto that had automatic braking. He was going 70 MPH
or so, in California, negotiating a long curve. The automobile "saw" a tractor trailer in the right
hand lane, which was being passed by the auto writer. The system incorrectly assumed a collision
and jammed on the brakes, totally freaking out the auto writer.

3. China - A Chinese man driving a <Tesla?> was driving on the highway and crashed into a street
sweeper on the side of the road. This killed the auto driver. It's unknown any more details of this one.

4. Las Vegas, NV - A new vehicle shuttle holding 8 people was put into service, and was in a collision
in its 2nd hour of service. Spokespeople said that that human driver of a truck was the cause of the
collision, not the self-driver. Well, how many times a week do we take evasive action to miss someone,
or simply beep our horns. This happened on a slow speed city street.

5. An auto writer was driving <some brand of self-driver>. It was looking at the stripes in the road,
to keep the vehicle centered. All of a sudden the road was freshly blacktopped, without stripes,
and warned the person to take control of the vehicle. This sounds nerve-wracking.

*************************************************************************************************************************

Although the self driving tech people are quite enamored with their toys, what I want to know is how is
the federal government, or the car companies, going to force these vehicles to be purchased?

I don't think I'm alone when I think of all the people who may be killed because the tech boys and girls
didn't program "that unlikely scenario" into their vehicles.

And what if the feds decide that to save fuel in some future crisis, to shut off our vehicle use?

SIA