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Germany To Require 'Black Box' in Autonomous Cars (reuters.com)
Autonomous cars should be able to account for themselves, that's the thinking behind new legislation proposed by German's transport ministry. The country is planning new laws that require self-driving cars to include a black box, Reuters reports, similar to the flight recorder required on aircraft. From the report: The fatal crash of a Tesla Motors Inc Model S car in its Autopilot mode has increased the pressure on industry executives and regulators to ensure that automated driving technology can be deployed safely. Under the proposal from Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt, drivers will not have to pay attention to traffic or concentrate on steering, but must remain seated at the wheel so they can intervene in the event of an emergency. Manufacturers will also be required to install a black box that records when the autopilot system was active, when the driver drove and when the system requested that the driver take over, according to the proposals. The draft is due to be sent to other ministries for approval this summer, a transport ministry spokesman said.
Need to stay on for some time after auto cut out so they can't just stop logging right before an crash
Here we go with the racist comments again. Why not a white box.
#BlackBoxesMatter
All cars should have black boxes.
WTF? The headline makes it seem like this is a done deal, but the text makes it clear this is legislation proposed by one of the govt ministries.
An accurate headline would read "German transportation ministry proposed requirement for black boxes in autonomous vehicles."
SMH.
Nothing much to add, frankly ALL cars should have a black box that records telemetry for a rolling 5 minute period and can be examined after a crash.
Is it owned by the car owner? Can government or manufacturer access data without due process? In USA, could this be violation of 4th amendment or could car owner turn off data logging? When can the data be demanded: for speeding, running a stop sign, illegal parking, illegal lane change, violating private property (trespassing), or only fatal crash or what? How to prove or determine if data recorded is CALIBRATED and ACCURATE? Speedometer will give wrong reading if different size tires are used. Will insurance companies demand access to set or raise rates?
and
How are you supposed to respond to an "emergency event" if you're not paying attention? This makes no sense.
I'm not aware of any autonomous car that doesn't do this already.
The black box for self-driving cars is the best idea I've heard all year.
What does your comment have to do with black boxes on autonomous cars?
Not to mention that the story whose absence he's decrying was posted seven minutes before his comment.
Absolutely nothing. /. editors chose to promote this click bait black box story, vs covering SpaceX. I picked the currently top story to whinge.
I am pleased to see now /. coverage of SpaceX.
They already have it. Everything is logged. That is how they knew of the 2 AP accidents
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
In Europe, there already is such a device set for mandatory inclusion under the "eCall" programme. It isn't just a black box, it also phones the authorities if it detects what it terms a "crash". Of course, you having access to such data would just be useful, so there's no provisions made for that.
As always: You're much better off installing recording devices yourself.
I mean I like '90s house music too, but to allow only one band to play on the radio?
... German regulations that actually makes sense. This isn't too far of from what these cars have already, it's probably no sweat at all for the manufacturers to add a blackbox on top of the tracking and analysis alread built in.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
The Tesla crash stories of the last few weeks, even about a product that is explicitly not marketed as anything more than a driver backup system, illustrate that car automation even in its current beta state is so much better than manual driving that car crashes can now be handled like air crashes, so rare that each one can be meticulously analyzed to pick apart how the system failed. A black box recording system will be a big help in this process.
The Tesla cars aren't autonomous. They're a regular car with lane-keep-assist and radar cruise control.
They can't read street signs or traffic lights, manage intersections, give way, react appropriately to anything that suddenly blocks it's path (like a truck cross the road)
All they do is keep you in the lane at a safe following distance from the car in front of you and change lanes when you use the indicator.
If your lane suddenly ends because there are road-works, you crash through the road cones and into the safety barrier they put up.
There have been zero autonomous vehicle fatalities.
The legislation is a proposal from Mr. Dobrindt who is famous for his unsuccessfulness and stupidity. He wanted to introduce road tolls for non Germans, which is of course illegal . Therefore the project ended in disaster. He proposed WiFi in long distance trains, but the real problem is limited track capacity. He is the worst minister for transportation we had and we had quite a few stupid ones. Nowadays he is also responsible for the Internet and telecommunications. That is why we suck there too.
It's a little known fact that new cars are already sold with an undisclosed GPS. This tracking device will be used "in case of emergency" to track you down. None of this is explained at the time of purchase except, I imagine, in some fine print of the purchase contract.