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Idiot Leaves Driver's Seat In Self-Driving Infiniti, On the Highway
cartechboy writes Self-driving cars are coming, that's nothing new. People are somewhat nervous about this technology, and that's also not news. But it appears self-driving cars are already here, and one idiot was dumb enough to climb out of the driver's seat while his car cruised down the highway. The car in question is a new Infiniti Q50, which has Active Lane Control and adaptive cruise control. Both of which essentially turn the Q50 into an autonomous vehicle while at highway speeds. While impressive, taking yourself out of a position where you can quickly and safely regain control of the car if needed is simply dumb. After watching the video, it's abundantly clear why people should be nervous about autonomous vehicles. It's not the cars and tech we need to worry about, it's idiots like this guy.
Hyundai did a similar stunt (though using professionals on closed road):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbjdmw8D9-Y
Like Asiana 214, where the pilots didn't know how to fly the plane manually.
Or like the way that, in the name of safety, we've removed trees from the sides of roads because drivers kept hitting them. Now drivers go even faster on those same roads and hit pedestrians who are no longer protected by the trees. How's that for progress?
Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
In the olden days everyone was too drunk while driving to be scared of the steel spear waiting to impale them for their driving mistakes.
We don't believe in radical loony monotheistic religions from the middle east -- we're Christians.
Actually, there are plenty of other reasons why we remove trees from the sides of roads. Dropped leaves (which can increase braking distances significantly), dropped branches, the chance of the tree falling onto the road during a storm, the risk of obscuring signage and, if the road is below the level of the terrain to either side of it, the chance of roots undermining the banks and causing a landslip.
By and large, while it's never going to be economical or appropriate everywhere, you don't want trees close to major roads.
I've worked in transportation for a good number of years and have been involved in this issue. I don't think "because drivers keep hitting them" ever came up as a reason.
Oh, and it's even more important on the railway. People laugh at the thought on "leaves on the line" causing delays and assume it's just a bullshit excuse. It isn't. What leaves do to trains' ability to accelerate and brake is much, much worse than ice.