JumpCrisscross 3 days ago

The interesting thing is a 12 mph speed limit would be honored by an autonomous vehicle but probably ignored by humans.

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  • toast0 3 days ago

    If the speed limit was 15 mph, and the Waymo vehicle was traveling at 17 mph before braking, why do you believe the Waymo vehicle would honor a 12 mph speed limit? It didn't honor the 15 mph limit.

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    • JumpCrisscross 3 days ago

      > If the speed limit was 15 mph, and the Waymo vehicle was traveling at 17 mph before braking, why do you believe the Waymo vehicle would honor a 12 mph speed limit?

      +/- 2 mph is acceptable speedometer and other error. (15 mph doesn’t mean never exceed under any legal inteprerstion I know.)

      It’s reasonable to say Waymo would reduce speed in a 12 versus 15 in a way most humans would not.

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  • nkrisc 3 days ago

    Ignored by some, not all humans. I absolutely drive extra slowly and cautiously when driving past an elementary school during drop off and pick up precisely because kids do dumb stuff like this. Others do too, though not everyone of course, incredibly.

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    • saalweachter 3 days ago

      The great thing about doing things like driving the speed limit in school zones is you get to witness other drivers drive even worse, like passing you in a no passing zone in front of the school, because they can't bear to drive slow for three blocks.

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mmooss 3 days ago

We are responsible for the consequences of our actions. The speed limit is almost irrelevant; drive slowly enough so you don't hit anyone - especially in a school zone.

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  • lmm 3 days ago

    > We are responsible for the consequences of our actions.

    We're not though. Drivers are allowed to kill as many people as they like as long as they're apologetic and weren't drinking; at most they pay a small fine.

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    • mmooss 3 days ago

      We're responsible for the consequences of our actions regardless of what anyone else says, including the law.

      Also, where I live that's manslaughter, a serious felony that can put you in jail.

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[removed] 3 days ago
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jsrozner 3 days ago

So the waymo was speeding! All the dumbasses on here defending waymo when it was going 17 > 15.

Oh also, that video says "kid ran out from a double parked suv". Can you imagine being dumb enough to drive over the speed limit around a double parked SUV in a school zone?

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  • cucumber3732842 3 days ago

    > Can you imagine being dumb enough to drive over the speed limit around a double parked SUV in a school zone?

    Can you imagine being dumb enough to think that exceeding a one size fits all number on a sign by <10% is the main failing here?

    As if 2mph would have fundamentally changed this. Pfft.

    A double parked car, in an area with chock full street parking (hence the double park) and "something" that's a magnet for pedestrians, and probably a bunch of pedestrians should be a "severe caution" situation for any driver who "gets it". You shouldn't need a sign to tell you that this is a particular zone and that warrants a particular magic number.

    The proper reaction to a given set of indicators that indicate hazards depends on the situation. If this were easy to put in a formula Waymo would have and we wouldn't be discussing this accident because it wouldn't have happened.

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    • fwip 3 days ago

      The default, with good visibility in ideal conditions, should be to not exceed the speed limit.

      In a school zone, when in a situation of low visibility, the car should likely be going significantly below the speed limit.

      So, it's not a case of 17mph vs 15mph, but more like 17mph vs 10mph or 5mph.

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      • AuthAuth 3 days ago

        >The default, with good visibility in ideal conditions, should be to not exceed the speed limit.

        Please pass this message on to 99.999% of human drivers who think speed limit is the minimum speed.

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        • fwip 2 days ago

          Sure thing, as soon as I figure out how to get a message out to billions of people.

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      • cucumber3732842 3 days ago

        So let me get this straight, the car should have been going less than the speed limit, but the fact that it was going a hair over the speed limit is the problem?

        The car clearly failed to identify that this was a situation it needed to be going slower. The fact that it was going 17 instead of 15 is basically irrelevant here except as fodder for moral posturing. If the car is incapable of identifying those situations no amount of "muh magic number on sign" is going to fix it. You'll just have the same exact accident again in a 20 school zone.

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        • fwip 3 days ago

          It is a contributing factor.

          If the car is going slower than the speed limit in this scenario, it is difficult to tell over the internet if that speed was appropriate. If the car is going over the speed limit, it is obviously inappropriate.

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    • jsrozner 3 days ago

      That was my point. The Waymo should have been going much slower than 15 around the double-parked car. Potential speeding makes it worse.

      The fact that it’s hard to turn this into a formula is exactly why robot drivers are bad.

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      • no-name-here 3 days ago

        Are you comparing robot drivers to the existing alternative? Next time you see one of those blinking speed displays, I’d urge you to pull over and see how fast many human drivers go, and watch for what percent of them aren’t consistently even looking at the road ahead.

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