[HN Gopher] Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready...
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       Mercedes-Benz says Level 3 self-driving option ready to roll
        
       Author : mxschumacher
       Score  : 82 points
       Date   : 2022-05-06 19:49 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.thedetroitbureau.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.thedetroitbureau.com)
        
       | pojzon wrote:
       | If tesla still has issues with self-driving cars and they are
       | like a decade if not more ahead of everyone else.
       | 
       | I dont believe this PR stunt.
        
         | chucknthem wrote:
         | Tesla owner here, have friends that work at Cruise. Tesla is
         | waaayy behind cruise and waymo on the self driving front. Those
         | other companies actually have fully driverless cars driving
         | around San Francisco. Tesla is not even close.
         | 
         | I think GM will have the best self driving system if they
         | manage to commercialize the tech cruise built.
        
           | B1FF_PSUVM wrote:
           | "If", as the Spartans famously said to Big Alex's dad.
           | 
           | Ah, well, let's hope GM manages to comercialize the stuff.
           | 
           | (The Spartans were undefeated, but became irrelevant and
           | dwindled, just a past legend for others to wave around as
           | political advertising. Sic transit ...)
        
         | freeflight wrote:
         | _> I dont believe this PR stunt._
         | 
         | PR stunts usually don't come with official regulatory approval,
         | tho they commonly come with grand promises [0] and the actual
         | product not living up to them [1]
         | 
         | [0] https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53418069
         | 
         | [1] https://www.vice.com/en/article/3aqevk/the-government-is-
         | fin...
        
         | qeternity wrote:
         | Wow. Or Tesla are the real masters of the PR stunt, and are not
         | a decade ahead of everyone.
         | 
         |  _EDIT_ I watched this comment drop from 15 pts to 5 pts. The
         | Elon apologists are out in full force.
        
         | wollsmoth wrote:
         | Maybe LIDAR is more useful than Tesla thought.
        
           | simondotau wrote:
           | What mistakes is FSD beta currently making that would be
           | solved with more accurate localisation of the vehicle? Are
           | you aware of any situations where mistakes are being made as
           | a result of errors in depth estimation?
           | 
           | Seriously, look at any FSD beta video and you'll quickly
           | recognise that its ability to sense the road is mature and
           | robust; most errors are in the planner.
        
         | smileysteve wrote:
         | > they are like a decade if not more ahead of everyone else.
         | 
         | Mercedes has been investing radar since the Tesla Roadster.
         | They are ahead of Tesla when for European regulation.
        
         | martin8412 wrote:
         | Tesla and Elon Musk are lying through their teeth every option
         | they get.
         | 
         | They can't even detect stationary emergency vehicles ffs..
         | 
         | Mercedes is accepting liability whenever their self driving
         | system is engaged, meaning their insurance is on the hook. So I
         | think they're pretty damn certain that it will work as
         | intended.
        
           | 01100011 wrote:
           | In my uninformed estimation, I think Elon, like a lot of us
           | 7-8 years ago, saw the recent advances in deep learning and
           | figured they'd be capable of anything in a few years. You
           | just need to scale them up and train the shit out of them and
           | out pops self driving. Some of us have since repented but
           | Tesla made too many promises so they've got to keep pushing
           | that narrative or they become just another car company.
        
         | jjtheblunt wrote:
         | or tesla made a bad engineering decision that stalled progress?
        
         | myko wrote:
         | Tesla seems way behind companies like Waymo
         | 
         | It's all marketing hype, I say this as a Model S owner with FSD
        
       | shoulderfake wrote:
        
       | verisimi wrote:
       | "Oh no! You didn't pay your road tax. So that you don't lose the
       | opportunity to defend yourself, the car will drive you to your
       | local police station so you can represent yourself."
       | 
       | "Oh no! Your passenger has been identified, and has a warrant for
       | his arrest. To prevent you being charged with aiding and abetting
       | a felon, we will drive you to your local police station."
       | 
       | Etc.
        
       | amelius wrote:
       | What I don't get: if deep learning can recognize a crosswalk with
       | 99.99% accuracy, that's very impressive. Yet it is not enough.
        
         | vanviegen wrote:
         | Do human drivers spot crosswalks in time with higher accuracy?
         | That seems very unlikely to me.
         | 
         | Still, as long as the driver (human or otherwise) sees the
         | pedestrian and vice versa, an accident can usually be avoided,
         | with perhaps some angry shouting.
        
         | bastawhiz wrote:
         | I can imagine this being at least two orders of magnitude
         | higher than most human drivers (one in ten thousand misses
         | versus one in one hundred). How many orders of magnitude better
         | does it need to be before it's good enough?
        
           | robonerd wrote:
           | Missing one in a hundred intersections? That's insane. Most
           | human drivers are much better than that and wouldn't keep
           | their license (or their life) for long if they weren't.
        
       | everyone wrote:
       | Is it still designed to mow down pedestrians?
       | 
       | https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15344706/self-driving-mer...
       | 
       | Mercedes ethics: Save the people who can afford lawyers.
        
         | freeflight wrote:
         | Usually no pedestrians running around on the autobahn, for
         | which this system is intended for.
        
           | everyone wrote:
           | Their plan (as it was in 2016) is to eventually have full
           | self driving everywhere. Presumably the fundamental decisions
           | they make now will carry forward.
        
         | rootusrootus wrote:
         | That's such a ridiculous problem to worry about. Humans don't
         | try to solve the trolley problem, either, I don't know why we
         | suddenly expect computers to be able to do it.
         | 
         | The real answer is actually simple, and it's basically the same
         | advice for human drivers: stop the car, however you can. Don't
         | try to swerve, don't get clever, just dynamite the brakes and
         | hope for the best. Or as they say on the race track "both
         | pedals in!"
         | 
         | Anything else is foolishness. I think magazines just like to
         | talk about it because it makes people click.
        
           | everyone wrote:
           | Your argument works both ways. Lets say a truck is driving on
           | the wrong side of the road and is going to flatten the
           | mercedes (not too uncommon as truck drivers seem to be crazy
           | and will overtake each other). Lets say it's possible to
           | swerve onto the footpath and squash some pedestrians in order
           | to avoid the truck. A human driver wont be solving the
           | trolley problem here and will probably just die. It sounds
           | Mercedes goal is for the car to save the driver and kill the
           | pedestrians in this situation.
        
             | rootusrootus wrote:
             | Read what the Mercedes guy actually said, though. Swerving
             | is bad, because it in no way guarantees a better result,
             | and increases the risk substantially of making things
             | _worse_. Any tire grip you use to swerve isn 't being used
             | to stop, and the best way to minimize damage to the car,
             | and by extension risk to the occupant, is to get kinetic
             | energy as low as possible and rely on the safety cage for
             | the rest.
             | 
             | The magazine writer frames it as "Mercedes is making a
             | choice in the trolley problem, and that choice is the
             | driver" as if that's actually a decision being made,
             | instead of the entirely expected result of trying to slow
             | the car enough that regular safety systems are likely to
             | save the life of the driver. Mercedes is doing the
             | _opposite_ of trying to solve the trolley problem, they 're
             | declaring it pointless to try.
             | 
             | It's much more plausible to get the car into the "driver is
             | very unlikely to die" kinetic range than it is to get it
             | down to "pedestrian is very unlikely to die."
             | 
             | So, back to your hypothetical -- the Mercedes won't be
             | swerving for the pedestrians, because that'll statistically
             | increase the risk to the driver. The car may very well
             | still get hit by that truck, but now it'll be on the driver
             | side instead of the front crumple zone. And who knows what
             | else happens after the car becomes ballistic because it
             | collided with something.
        
         | NovemberWhiskey wrote:
         | Although it's pretty clear you don't care about an answer to
         | your question - it's only designed to operate on highways.
        
           | everyone wrote:
           | Their plan (as it was in 2016) is to eventually have full
           | self driving everywhere. Presumably the fundamental decisions
           | they make now will carry forward.
        
       | rootusrootus wrote:
       | Is there a map somewhere that discloses which roads it will be
       | permitted on?
        
       | lesgobrandon wrote:
        
       | mdoms wrote:
       | > Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during a recent conference call with
       | investors he expects to have a "Level Four" system ready by the
       | end of 2022
       | 
       | How are people still listening to this clown?
        
         | glaucon wrote:
         | People love to follow people.
        
         | scrozier wrote:
         | I own a Model 3 and love it. But you're 100% right: the "full
         | self driving" claim Musk/Tesla has been making for years is
         | bizarre. I live in a major city and have never had a trip using
         | FSD where I didn't have to take control multiple times. At
         | times, updates seem to make it get worse. Simple example, on a
         | highway, it can't even keep the car in the middle of the lane
         | through moderate curves. It almost always drifts to the
         | outside, sometimes onto or over the lane marker. And I know
         | it's doing this because I can watch it on the display, so the
         | car clearly knows it's not centered. Surely this should be a
         | trivial task (as self-driving tasks go).
        
         | simondotau wrote:
         | You are quoting someone who is egregiously misquoting and
         | misunderstanding what Elon said in that recent earnings call.
         | What he actually said:
         | 
         |  _Of any technology development I've ever been involved in,
         | I've never really seen more false dawns, or where it seems like
         | we're going to break through but we don't as I've seen in full
         | self-driving. And ultimately what it comes down to is that to
         | solve full self-driving, you actually have to solve real world
         | artificial intelligence. Which nobody has solved. The whole
         | road system is made for biological neural nets and eyes. And so
         | actually, when you think about it, in order to solve full self-
         | driving, we have to solve neural nets and cameras to a degree
         | of a capability that is on par with, and will really exceeds
         | humans. And I think we will achieve that this year. The best
         | way to reach your own assessment is to join the Tesla full
         | self-driving beta program. We have over 100,000 people right
         | now enrolled in that program. And we expect to broaden that
         | significantly this year. So that's my recommendation is join
         | the full self-driving beta program, and experience it for
         | yourself. And take note of the rate of improvement with every
         | release. And we put out a new release roughly every two weeks.
         | And you'll see a little bit of two steps forward, one step
         | back. But overall, the rate of improvement is incredibly quick.
         | So that's my recommendation for reaching your own assessment
         | is, literally try it._
        
       | ksubedi wrote:
       | What most people here complaining about the "40 mph" limit do not
       | realize is that below 40mph is where it's hardest to implement
       | proper self driving, as majority of below 40mph driving will be
       | in city streets with pedestrians, frequent turns and more
       | variables. Anything higher will generally be in highways where
       | lane assist cruise control systems are already more than good
       | enough.
       | 
       | I will gladly take a system that can drive itself confidently
       | under 40mph in city, and use basic lane assist (and maybe lane
       | changes and exit ramps like in Teslas) for highways. Cant wait!
        
       | lorenzfx wrote:
       | While the specs sound very underwhelming at first (geo-fenced on
       | some roads, very low speeds, no bad weather), they seem to be so
       | confident in their system, that they will take responsibility for
       | the car when in autopilot. AFAIK, no other manufacturer does this
       | for their systems (which capabilities they often make rather wild
       | claims about).
        
         | 369548684892826 wrote:
         | > they will take responsibility for the car when in autopilot
         | 
         | This probably just means autopilot gets disengaged just before
         | impact
        
         | davidvarela_us wrote:
         | few things inspire confidence like companies putting their
         | literal money where their mouth is
        
           | slg wrote:
           | But haven't we all seen Fight Club? It isn't a question a
           | confidence, it is a question of financial math.
           | 
           | This decision tells us nothing about the safety of the
           | Mercedes system compared to its competitors. All it tells us
           | is that adding these limitations to ensure the system is only
           | used in the safest possible scenarios makes taking over
           | liability more reasonable. That isn't surprising. Their
           | competitors' systems are also very safe if used in this
           | manner. The only difference is that the competitors are not
           | satisfied with releasing a system with enough limitations
           | that it only works in stop-and-go highway traffic in clear
           | weather. It is that added functionality that is more
           | dangerous and the reason other manufacturers don't take on
           | liability.
           | 
           | Odds are the marketing and accounting wings of Mercedes had
           | just as much if not more influence on this decision than the
           | tech team.
        
             | I_DRINK_KOOLAID wrote:
             | > This decision tells us nothing about the safety of the
             | Mercedes system compared to its competitors
             | 
             | Mercedes is just taking notice that grandstanding and PR
             | worked for Tesla, so they are doing the same thing.
             | 
             | Everybody who is serious about this knows that unless you
             | get Level 5 it's all just grandstanding.
             | 
             | Level 5 won't come from unleashing Level 3 into the world
             | and throwing deers , cyclists and pedestrians at it
             | (hopefully not literally).
             | 
             | It's just a weird hill that brainpower and capital decided
             | to die on. Deaths on the road are tragic but airbags,
             | seatbelts and ultimately bigger cars and lower alcohol
             | intake is something practical, whereas Level 5 is something
             | like a pie-in-the-sky thing
        
               | upbeat_general wrote:
               | I don't know how you came to this conclusion.
               | 
               | Level 4 is a serious goal that provides very useful
               | benefits.
        
             | moralestapia wrote:
             | >But haven't we all seen Fight Club?
             | 
             | ???
        
               | thematrixturtle wrote:
               | http://inaneexplained.blogspot.com/2011/03/fight-club-
               | car-re...
               | 
               | TL;DR; If there's a defect that kills or maims people,
               | car manufacturers compute if it's cheaper to recall or
               | just deal with the lawsuits.
               | 
               | And this happens regularly:
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed
        
               | idoh wrote:
               | There's always a tradeoff between cost and safety, how
               | else would you imagine this to work?
        
               | mirntyfirty wrote:
               | Have you seen the movie, if I remember the scene
               | correctly Norton discusses the financial incentives
               | leading to auto product recalls. I don't think this is
               | accurate in real life although Boeing hasn't inspired
               | much confidence.
        
               | BolexNOLA wrote:
               | >I don't think this is accurate in real life
               | 
               | Ehhhh I mean they often don't say the quiet part out loud
               | but many companies definitely run a variation of the
               | equation he describes.
        
               | jerf wrote:
               | https://youtu.be/SiB8GVMNJkE
        
         | Hamuko wrote:
         | What about legal? As in, if I'm being driven around my
         | Mercedes-Benz while watching a movie on my phone and something
         | happens, am I not gonna get fucked by the cops?
        
           | lima wrote:
           | In Germany, the law was changed to account for this.
           | 
           | There are limits - while you can watch a movie, you have to
           | be ready to take over within ten seconds.
        
           | ghaff wrote:
           | Absent legal/regulatory changes/waivers, the fact that MB is
           | offering to cover financial liabilities would seem to be
           | pretty much irrelevant to legal liabilities. So basically
           | "we'll cover your costs" is pretty much irrelevant if you
           | want to drive in a manner that would normally be considered
           | reckless.
           | 
           | But there's talk of certification so this may be taken into
           | account. One would of course want to see specifics.
        
           | nradov wrote:
           | That would depend on the exact laws in particular
           | jurisdictions where you might operate the vehicle. In some
           | areas, law enforcement could cite you for using a phone even
           | if the manufacturer had taken on the civil liability. Longer
           | term some of those laws will probably change as Level 3
           | autonomous vehicles start to become more common.
        
         | mhh__ wrote:
         | Confident but limited is probably how the German manufacturers
         | describe most of their cars (although I think mercedes do at
         | least some of their driverless in the USA)
        
         | Traster wrote:
         | Just from a management perspective, even if you're super-
         | confident in your engineers (which you shouldn't be), doing
         | anything other than a very limited slow roll out would be
         | negligent. This is a tectonic shift in liability. It's one
         | thing if you sell 1,000,000 cars and 100,000 get in an
         | accident. It's actually much worse to sell 10,000 cars and
         | 1,000 of them get in an accident _and the company is liable_.
        
       | a-dub wrote:
       | there should be a qualification level for vehicles that can fully
       | self drive at low speeds in heavy traffic on the highway so you
       | can nap through traffic jams and then later enjoy your
       | performance automobile by driving it yourself when it's clear.
       | 
       | half the point of fancy cars is that they're fun to drive.
        
         | MBCook wrote:
         | I think that may be level 4, but I'm not sure.
        
           | a-dub wrote:
           | it appears you're correct... but it is a much easier problem
           | and one that i argue has massive bang for the buck _today_.
           | 
           | robotaxis will probably happen at scale some day. but for
           | now, "nap through bad traffic mode" would be pretty excellent
           | both in terms of safety and utility.
        
             | MBCook wrote:
             | Phantom traffic jams are so common, where things aren't
             | moving as fast as they should because people keep slamming
             | on their brakes and scaring the people behind them (who in
             | turn do the same). Even if the original reason was good I
             | imagine it makes a lot of real life traffic jams worse.
             | 
             | But if the cars are all driving themselves, wouldn't they
             | avoid that? I wonder if traffic jams would get smaller just
             | from the lack of that one issue.
        
               | a-dub wrote:
               | yeah, i've daydreamed about that. if enough cars opt in
               | you could implement cooperative flow control algorithms.
               | 
               | i think this has already been shown to help with advisory
               | lane specific speed limits that are common in some parts
               | of europe and the us. (the lit adaptive per lane speed
               | limit signs that appear every mile or two.)
               | 
               | even a few vehicles that drive intelligently in traffic
               | could potentially have huge effects.
               | 
               | and i'll say it again: why buy a fun vehicle like a tesla
               | or a benz if you're just going to have the computer drive
               | it in a way that the manufacturer's legal team is
               | comfortable with?
               | 
               | unless, of course, you're stuck in traffic. then let the
               | lawyers drive and take a nap.
        
       | 11thEarlOfMar wrote:
       | Seems like we need to re-run the DARPA Grand Challenge.
       | 
       | Local car clubs should be happy to work together to define a
       | route and run the race.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2AcMnfzpNg
        
       | Havoc wrote:
       | What exactly is this "internationally valid certification"
       | they're banging on about and how is it the first?
        
       | gzer0 wrote:
       | > Drive Pilot can only be engaged on a certain highways, and the
       | car must not exceed 40 miles per hour.
       | 
       | > The system will only operate during the daytime, in reasonably
       | clear weather, and without overhead obstructions. Inclement
       | weather, construction zones, tunnels, and emergency vehicles will
       | all trigger a handover warning [1].
       | 
       | There's a _very_ limited subset of areas that one would be able
       | to use this.
       | 
       | [1] https://cleantechnica.com/2022/03/23/mercedes-will-be-
       | legall...
        
         | jzz wrote:
         | Mercedes system seems as capable as my 2002 Nissan's cruise
         | control.
        
       | lifeisstillgood wrote:
       | For me the corollary of this ("you just invented a more expensive
       | railway") is the business model assumptions that go away. Long
       | distance trucking is still a likely winner, but there is still
       | the "last mile / last off ramp".
       | 
       | None of the business models touted today survive the new railway
       | problem. That's not to say it's not a valuable technology - it's
       | just we cannot whistle up a human shaped robot that just does
       | what we want.
       | 
       | In the same way a machine is shaped by its function, our cities
       | and infrastructure green will be shaped by their function.
       | 
       | Disneyland is built one level up, so that all the service tunnels
       | (with I am sure some self driving robots) can get around without
       | getting in the way of people. Whatever we rebuild our (climate
       | neutral) cities to be, i think less surface space given to
       | transport will be high
        
       | henrikschroder wrote:
       | Meanwhile at Tesla: "We're the industry leaders, wait for us!"
        
         | LightG wrote:
         | "Our leader of all things FSD is on sabbatical, please bare
         | with us"
        
         | 01100011 wrote:
         | Hey, they've had self driving ready to go next year since
         | 2014(https://youtu.be/o7oZ-AQszEI).
         | 
         | Why so cynical? :)
        
       | wyldfire wrote:
       | > Mercedes-Benz Cars says it plans to release "Drive Pilot," a
       | conditionally automated Level 3 system for automated driving
       | 
       | I think it's pretty irresponsible to publish a picture of a
       | driver taking his eyes off the road to play Tetris on a system
       | designed for Level 3.
        
         | MBCook wrote:
         | "Level 3 autonomous driving, as defined by SAE International,
         | means that the driver can hand over control to the vehicle, but
         | must be ready to take over when prompted" (from an EU car site)
         | 
         | At level 3 the driver no longer has to constantly monitor the
         | road, but they can't exactly go to sleep because they need to
         | be ready to take over in a few seconds.
         | 
         | Given that the image seems reasonable.
        
           | microtherion wrote:
           | In the specific case of the Mercedes-Benz system, if the
           | driver does not take over in a timely manner, the car will
           | find a safe place to come to a stop, activate the emergency
           | lights, and unlock the doors, so you'd probably live even if
           | you _did_ fall asleep: https://group.mercedes-
           | benz.com/documents/innovation/other/2...
        
         | SheinhardtWigCo wrote:
         | Not if the system is designed to achieve a minimal risk
         | condition by itself or give the driver sufficient warning to
         | take over. Level 3 includes systems that can handle an
         | emergency situation but require the driver to respond within
         | some limited time.
        
         | freeflight wrote:
         | That's pretty much the definition of level 3;
         | 
         |  _> In certain situations, the driver can turn attention away
         | from the road, but most always be ready to take full control
         | again._
         | 
         | https://www.blickfeld.com/blog/levels-of-autonomous-driving/
        
       | KaoruAoiShiho wrote:
       | This is powered by nvidia i think:
       | https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/04/16/mercedes-benz-eqs-h...
       | 
       | This means if mercedes have it, so will many other automakers
       | since nvidia sells to everyone.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | Youden wrote:
         | The linked blog post seems to show off hardware but the
         | software is all Mercedes, no? In that case automakers wouldn't
         | be able to buy the self-driving capability from NVIDIA.
        
           | riotnrrd wrote:
           | NVIDIA has a large autonomous vehicle software team and
           | releases public products (such as Driveworks:
           | https://developer.nvidia.com/drive/driveworks) as well as
           | custom products for specific clients.
        
             | _jal wrote:
             | We have a cage in a data center right next to Nvidia's main
             | campus. There's a redlight right at the lot entrance. Twice
             | I've watched their robots drive onto the street and stop in
             | the intersection, seemingly too indecisive to do anything.
             | 
             | Last time was several months ago, can't remember if it was
             | this year or last. I have no major point to make, it just
             | amused me.
        
         | mhh__ wrote:
         | With these press releases they can mean anything from "It's our
         | tech but rebadged" to "We sold them a CAD program" so not
         | always clear.
        
       | gitfan86 wrote:
       | "it's geofenced to certain roads, and only work under 40mph", "
       | you should not use this in the rain"
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMNnOosjrBo&ab_channel=Engad...
        
         | verisimi wrote:
         | > "Geofenced"
         | 
         | That's the word. That's the plan. We will be geofenced, there
         | will be a kill switch. You will not be able to go where you
         | want, except if the government allows it.
         | 
         | In fact, I think Uber is the best example of geofencing we have
         | for the long run. In the medium term, self-driving cars you
         | still own will fill the gap.
        
           | QuercusMax wrote:
           | You're making a pretty big leap there from "our experimental
           | self-driving mode only works inside the geofence" to "the
           | government won't let you drive where you want".
        
             | verisimi wrote:
             | Yes, a huge leap. I can't possibly imagine that government
             | would pass legislation that all the automakers would comply
             | with. /s
             | 
             | https://www.musclecarsandtrucks.com/biden-infrastructure-
             | bil...
             | 
             | "Deep within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
             | that was signed into law by President Joe Biden is a
             | passage that will require automakers to begin including
             | what can be best summarized as a "vehicle kill switch"
             | within the operating software of new cars, which is
             | described in the bill as "advanced drunk and impaired
             | driving prevention technology". The measure has been
             | positioned as a safety tool to help prevent drunk driving,
             | and by 2026 (three years after the enactment of the Act,
             | per the text) the kill switch could be mandated on every
             | new car sold in the United States. Then there's the broader
             | reaching RIDE Act, which we'll touch on in a moment."
        
               | verisimi wrote:
               | I'm being downvoted - but this is the reality of what
               | will happen. Who wants that sort of monitoring when they
               | are driving?
               | 
               | Is this a consumer-driven feature? Or is this more
               | government management - leveraging technology to micro-
               | manage every detail of our lives - only allowing good
               | citizens travel privileges etc?
               | 
               | We are sleep walking into a dystopia, and I get downvoted
               | for stating the obvious! Seriously - your government is
               | about managing you, saying what you are and aren't
               | allowed to do, extracting taxes, fines and licensing fees
               | from you - its not there to help!
               | 
               | PS I _was_ being downvoted, but now I 'm back up... It
               | was right what I wrote it!
        
               | pigtailgirl wrote:
               | Maybe some people just agree with this?
               | 
               | (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
               | (1) alcohol-impaired driving fatalities represent
               | approximately \1/3\ of all highway fatalities in the
               | United              States each year;
               | (2) in 2019, there were 10,142 alcohol-impaired driving
               | fatalities in the United States involving drivers with a
               | blood              alcohol concentration level of .08 or
               | higher, and 68 percent of              the crashes that
               | resulted in those fatalities involved a driver
               | with a blood alcohol concentration level of .15 or
               | higher;                           (3) the estimated
               | economic cost for alcohol-impaired driving
               | in 2010 was $44,000,000,000;
               | (4) according to the Insurance Institute for Highway
               | Safety,              advanced drunk and impaired driving
               | prevention technology can              prevent more than
               | 9,400 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities
               | annually; and                           (5) to ensure the
               | prevention of alcohol-impaired driving
               | fatalities, advanced drunk and impaired driving
               | prevention              technology must be standard
               | equipment in all new passenger motor
               | vehicles.                        (b) Definitions.--In
               | this section:                 (1) Advanced drunk and
               | impaired driving prevention              technology.--The
               | term ``advanced drunk and impaired driving
               | prevention technology'' means a system that--
               | (A) can--                               (i) passively
               | monitor the performance of a
               | driver of a motor vehicle to accurately identify
               | whether that driver may be impaired; and
               | (ii) prevent or limit motor vehicle operation
               | if an impairment is detected;                         (B)
               | can--
               | 
               | [[Page 135 STAT. 832]]
               | (i) passively and accurately detect whether
               | the blood alcohol concentration of a driver of a
               | motor vehicle is equal to or greater than the
               | blood alcohol concentration described in section
               | 163(a) of title 23, United States Code; and
               | (ii) prevent or limit motor vehicle operation
               | if a blood alcohol concentration above the legal
               | limit is detected; or                         (C) is a
               | combination of systems described in
               | subparagraphs (A) and (B).
        
               | rglullis wrote:
               | The "right" way to fix this is by reducing car-dependency
               | - better public transit outside of metro areas, less
               | subsidies to gasoline, taxing car makers to cover for
               | externalities - and not by instituting policies that can
               | be used against law-abiding people.
        
               | verisimi wrote:
               | I think its possible to make an argument for lots of
               | things, in the name of safety. That it should be
               | impossible to have anonymity online, etc because of child
               | abuse, or terrorism, or some other action.
               | 
               | The safety argument cannot balance the fact that we also
               | need freedom of speech and thought. We are heading into a
               | world where the power balance is going to become so
               | wildly asymmetrical - the government will know everything
               | about you and will have the power to act against you
               | instantly, automatically - it will change us. It will be
               | dehumanising - you will have to watch your back. If you
               | don't already.
               | 
               | We will have to conform to have a job, be able to travel,
               | receive our govcoin vouchers, etc.
               | 
               | We are literally installing an even worse citizen score
               | system than China, that no one would ever want, but each
               | step of the way we are convinced by some spurious and
               | limited 'safety' argument. This misses the whole picture.
               | 
               | And if you think that the government won't act against
               | you once it has the power to do so, you are dreaming.
               | Everyone seems to think that government is a force for
               | good, as opposed to being the operators of the slavery
               | system we find ourselves in. Some of us try to kid
               | ourselves that we are free, while we hand over 40% of our
               | income for government to service the interest on the debt
               | that they have accrued on our behalf. I don't.
               | 
               | Anyway - I say what I see, no one likes my message,
               | everyone seems blind to the points I raise, or wants to
               | ignore them - what can I do? I hope I'm wrong.
        
               | pigtailgirl wrote:
               | you might be right you might be wrong - however I suspect
               | you'll find there are many of us out here who are just
               | not willing to let ourselves get so worked up about such
               | a ridged view of a _possible future_ - doubt you 'll find
               | many on HN who are not ignorant to the signs - i'm
               | certain many are concerned about the trends - that
               | doesn't meant people necessarily disagree with your
               | thought - we just may disagree with your outlook - myself
               | - i'm inclined to believe I - my friends- and fine folks
               | like you are thoughtful enough to deal with it in the
               | moment - even if that took a civil war - i'm not inclined
               | to believe at some point i am going to lose touch with
               | reality - nor am i inclined to believe my government is
               | going to turn against me without noticing - for what it's
               | worth i don't think you need to take it so personally -
               | lots of people are concerned - just not everyone is
               | freaking out (yet)- maybe you can somehow make peace with
               | that? :=)
        
               | jjulius wrote:
               | Additional Context:
               | 
               | https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-402773429497
        
             | wfhordie wrote:
             | Saving his comment for whenever the punishment for a DUI
             | post-license reinstatement is a "temporary geo-fence on
             | where the car can travel".
             | 
             | "But I'm not a drunk!"
             | 
             | Saving this comment for when the NHSTA recommends hard cut
             | offs for speed based on the posted speed limit.
             | 
             | "Who cares? It's safer that way."
             | 
             | Saving this comment for when cities start geofencing to
             | reduce congestion.
             | 
             | "Well... I don't live in a big city."
             | 
             | Saving this comment for when insurance companies demand
             | geofencing for regions unless you pay extra to travel
             | outside your zone
             | 
             | "Well I don't travel out of state anyway, discount for me!"
             | 
             | Saving this comment for when the next civil unrest happens
             | and the government implements geofencing temporarily to
             | "restore peace"
             | 
             | "Well they shouldn't be rioting."
             | 
             | I'm saving this comment. You won't come back here to
             | respond. But I'm saving this comment because all the evil
             | shit you can think of this being used for is coming, and
             | it's coming to China first. I won't say I told you so --
             | you don't me, I don't know you, and we'll never speak to
             | each other in person. But I hope you remember the pretty
             | big leap, and that pretty big leaps often happen in many
             | smaller leaps.
        
               | rglullis wrote:
               | Sir, this is a Wendy's.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | arcticbull wrote:
           | > You will not be able to go where you want, except if the
           | government allows it.
           | 
           | Sounds like in your model Elon will be the one deciding where
           | you can and cannot go.
        
           | glaucon wrote:
           | Don't worry, at least in a Tesla the geofencing is going to
           | be disabled in datetime.now().year + 1
        
         | kube-system wrote:
         | Breadth of operating conditions is a trade off with reliability
         | of operation. It's possible to do a lot of things okay, or a
         | couple things perfectly, but not yet possible to do a lot of
         | things perfectly.
         | 
         | When you remove the driver from the equation, the requirement
         | for reliability goes up.
         | 
         | There's going to come a day when Tesla is forced to make
         | difficult decisions about their "FSD" system. They're either
         | going to be requiring human supervision for a long time, or
         | they're going to have to start pulling features.
         | 
         | I'm glad to see other manufacturers taking a different approach
         | and actually start working on features good enough to qualify
         | for SAE level 3 operation.
        
         | na85 wrote:
         | If you think Teslas driven by fleeing fugitives, OJ Simpson
         | style, can't be remotely commandeered or disabled, then I have
         | a bridge to sell you.
         | 
         | Geofencing is a big part of the dystopia that the Valley crowd
         | is getting paid a small fortune to shove down our throats.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | filoleg wrote:
           | > If you think Teslas driven [...] can't be remotely
           | commandeered or disabled, then I have a bridge to sell you.
           | 
           | I wonder how this is even remotely possible, given that
           | Teslas can easily operate fully offline (which they
           | frequently do in areas with poor cell reception). You can
           | just build a small faraday cage encasing the modem so that it
           | cannot receive signal, and you are good to go.
           | 
           | Also, I don't think that the drivetrain subsystem and the
           | subsystem that is connected to the internet can even interop.
           | I know for a fact that even if the main computer (the one
           | that is connected to the big screen) on a tesla is rebooting
           | or shutting off, you can still operate the car like usual.
        
             | another_story wrote:
             | The point they're making is that this is coming and the
             | groundwork is already being laid, both legally and
             | technologically.
        
               | loueed wrote:
               | Wondering how would they prevent the faraday cage
               | solution? I guess the OEM could disable the car if it
               | cant phone home but surely that would lead to accidents
               | e.g. blocking the modem while driving.
        
           | gitfan86 wrote:
           | OJ Simpson, the man that the police forced to stop fleeing
           | under threat of deadly violence?
           | 
           | Are you trying to scare people that their car may be
           | disabled, when those same people already live in a society
           | where police shoot and kill and pit maneuver drivers?
           | 
           | Wouldn't you rather have the car stop safely, instead of
           | being pit maneuvered and flipped into a ditch?
        
             | mtlynch wrote:
             | _OJ Simpson, the man that the police forced to stop fleeing
             | under threat of deadly violence?_
             | 
             | That didn't happen. Police followed OJ for 50 miles and
             | ultimately let him drive safely to his house.
             | 
             | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson_murder_case#B
             | r...
        
               | gitfan86 wrote:
               | The LAPD had killed plenty of people who didn't comply
               | with their orders at that point. It is completely
               | unrealistic to think that the LAPD wouldn't have used
               | violence against OJ, if he had tried to flee to Mexico.
        
             | na85 wrote:
             | >Are you trying to scare people that their car may be
             | disabled, when those same people already live in a society
             | where police shoot and kill and pit maneuver drivers?
             | 
             | Scare? No.
             | 
             | I'm just pointing out that, just as pervasive corporate
             | surveillance is now the norm on the internet, pervasive
             | tracking and always-on kill switches for cars will soon
             | become the new norm. Law enforcement will paint it exactly
             | as you have done here, with all the pearl-clutching and
             | "think of the children"-type arguments that always
             | accompany a new overstep/affront against civil liberties.
        
               | gitfan86 wrote:
               | Are you suggesting we shouldn't think of the children?
        
               | na85 wrote:
               | I think you know perfectly well what my point is and
               | you're being deliberately obstinate.
        
           | throwaway1777 wrote:
           | The idea that this is the "valley crowd" is laughable. Most
           | of this bs is not built in the valley, and most people in the
           | Bay Area don't like that kind of dystopia either.
        
             | na85 wrote:
             | >Most of this bs is not built in the valley, and most
             | people in the Bay Area don't like that kind of dystopia
             | either.
             | 
             | Well, certainly it's Bay Area companies leading the charge
             | towards said dystopia. Google and Facebook come immediately
             | to mind as far as villains in this particular plot.
        
         | daenz wrote:
         | I wonder if 40mph is a magic number that is a good tradeoff
         | between speed and survivability (and injury-related out-of-
         | court settlements)
        
           | fweimer wrote:
           | It's translated from 60 kph. Apparently, the current system
           | is restricted to German highways. Those are limited to
           | vehicles which can go at least as fast as 60 kph, and this
           | might be where this number comes from. It's basically the
           | slowest highway speed at which there is no controversy about
           | legality. Targeting highways first makes sense from a
           | complexity and data quality perspective.
           | 
           | Although driving at 60 kph on German highways seems quite
           | risky; at that speed, most trucks will overtake you.
        
             | IfOnlyYouKnew wrote:
             | I doubt this reasoning. While it's true that 60 kph is the
             | minimum for Autobahn, it's the minimum in the sense that
             | the vehicle must be capable of that speed. There is no
             | requirement to actually drive 60 kph or faster.
             | 
             | On the other side of the equation, nobody would feel
             | comfortable cruising along at that speed, since you'd be
             | continuously overtaken by trucks, which drive a little more
             | than the allowed 80 kph unless it's physically impossible.
        
           | sjcoles wrote:
           | Has to do with the limitations of radar. Radar will fail
           | >40mph for stopped vehicles or detect them too late to stop.
           | Honda and Tesla are working to remove radars and go vision
           | only for speed control.
           | 
           | If you have a car with a AEB or CMBS (automatic emergency
           | braking, crash mitigation braking system) the owners manual
           | has a ton of fine print about it only making crashes less
           | severe, not preventing them outright.
        
           | rootusrootus wrote:
           | I imagine there are a couple reasons that boil down at some
           | point to kinetic energy. Stopping distance goes up pretty
           | quickly, there's a huge difference between, say, 40mph and
           | 60mph.
        
           | bryanlarsen wrote:
           | That threshold is generally considered to be 20mph. Below
           | that speed pedestrian injuries are unlikely to be fatal.
           | 
           | It's what urban speed limits are in Sweden, and they average
           | about one pedestrian death a year in the entire country.
        
             | Closi wrote:
             | 20mph is considered to be good for survivability, but is
             | not really good from a speed/travel perspective.
             | 
             | I believe OP meant maybe 40mph is a good balance between
             | the two factors of speed (higher is better) and
             | survivability (higher is better) from a corporate risk /
             | insurance perspective.
             | 
             | Raising one of these lowers the other - so the actual
             | threshold depends on how you value speed / convenience vs
             | accident survivability / risk, and what you want to market
             | your car as able to do (few consumers will see a 20mph
             | self-drive speed limit as a viable self driving system).
        
         | throwmeariver1 wrote:
         | Yeah, look up some videos of Teslas Autopilot in the rain...
         | it's not pretty.
        
         | freeflight wrote:
         | Restrictions that very much make sense given the usage
         | scenario; Stop and go traffic on highways.
        
       | halotrope wrote:
       | Meanwhile in Jerusalem
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/pDyMzz8HMIc
        
         | runetech wrote:
         | Wow. That was pretty convincing. Thanks for sharing.
        
           | halotrope wrote:
           | Agreed. It should be kept in mind that Mobileye solution has
           | not really seen a wide rollout and scrutiny yet. One can be
           | optimistic considering that the CEO Amnon Shashua is known
           | for a very careful and responsible conduct compared to e.g
           | Tesla. This apparently let to them having a falling out
           | because Tesla overpromised on the old stack selling it as
           | "Autopilot" when it was L2 at best. Which resulted in them
           | doing FSD from scratch after Mobileye cancelled the
           | collaboration after a deathly accident. At least this seems
           | to be the semi-official account of things.
        
         | anikan_vader wrote:
         | The car pulls out and immediately fails to yield to two
         | pedestrians at a crosswalk at 0:54. One of the pedestrians is
         | in the crosswalk.
        
           | Hamuko wrote:
           | The car did have the right of way though, as the crosswalk
           | had a red light on. As to why one of the pedestrians decided
           | to stand in middle of the road during a red light, I have no
           | idea.
        
             | robonerd wrote:
             | That might be the way it works in Israel, but it's not a
             | safe way to drive even if the law permits it. In Washington
             | state, every intersection is a crosswalk whether or not
             | it's marked, and you have to stop for any pedestrian
             | crossing an intersection whether or not the light says the
             | pedestrian can be there.
             | 
             | I hope these car companies get local laws right. But it
             | would be best if they did the safe thing even if local laws
             | didn't require it.
        
               | Hamuko wrote:
               | It's not a safe way to walk either, and I don't know
               | where walking against a red light is legal.
        
           | aeyes wrote:
           | It also has a traffic light so I guess this isn't a crosswalk
           | where the car has to yield. The pedestrian isn't really in
           | the crosswalk, there is a yellow dashed line.
           | 
           | Very confusing but I guess: Different countries, different
           | rules.
           | 
           | 1:44 is also confusing, no signs at all so the car should
           | yield to the car coming from the right.
           | 
           | 3:35 looks dangerous, pulling left into the scooter.
           | 
           | 10:00 he says that it is very challenging to drive in
           | Jerusalem and that you can drive everywhere if you can do it
           | there. I haven't seen anything challenging up to this point
           | in the video, all roads are clearly marked, no potholes,
           | almost no traffic, lots of signs. This looks very easy to me.
        
             | Hamuko wrote:
             | 1:44 might have a yield sign behind the no entry sign.
             | Looking at Google Maps, it might be 16 HaMatmid Alley, and
             | in the 2011 Street View photos there appears to be a yield
             | sign behind the no entry sign.
        
           | colinmhayes wrote:
           | Just like a real person :)
        
         | faebi wrote:
         | It's nice to see a self driving car in European conditions. All
         | the Tesla FSD videos feel like they lack some complexity and
         | depth. I do wonder how Tesla would perform in these conditions.
        
         | sebmellen wrote:
         | ny mshvkn`
        
           | mtmail wrote:
           | Google translate: "I'm convinced"
        
         | freeflight wrote:
         | Kind of skeptical about how all the shots are only from night-
         | drives, probably when traffic is the lowest.
         | 
         | Didn't Tesla release a somewhat similar video, showing a Tesla
         | driving across the US?
        
           | halotrope wrote:
           | Agreed. They plan roll out Robotaxis in Germany and Israel
           | this year. We will have to wait for third parties to verify
           | the performance. There is another Video from NY last year
           | that had a bit more traffic.
           | 
           | https://youtu.be/50NPqEla0CQ
        
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