Autonomous cars confused by San Francisco's fog:
Driving in thick fog is a big enough challenge for humans, but it turns out self-driving cars find it pretty tricky, too.
Overwhelmed by dense fog in San Francisco early on Tuesday morning, five of Waymo's fully driverless vehicles suddenly parked by the side of a residential street in what appeared to be a precautionary measure, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Another of its cars apparently came to halt in the middle of the street, the news outlet said.
Other vehicles were unable to pass as "baffled motorists flashed headlights and tried to maneuver around the jam," the Chronicle said.
The traffic problems persisted until the fog cleared and the autonomous cars were able to resume their journeys.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 25, @02:44AM (8 children)
Alright, it was snow, not fog. Complete whiteout. Couldn't see a thing outside the cab of the truck. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Stop the truck. Set the brakes. Open the door, step out, look around, nothing has changed. Can't see a thing, and I don't let go of the door handle, just in case. Climb back in the truck, and sit . . . and sit . . . and sit . . . the wind dies down, the world starts taking shape around me, and a snow plow zooms past.
So, the autonomous vehicle agrees with me. If you can't see, JUST FREAKING STOP!!! At least you don't drive off the side of a mountain when you're stopped.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday April 25, @02:49AM (5 children)
A lot of major pileups happen when the majority of people stop for safety and some keep going and plow into stopped vehicles they didn't see and couldn't avoid in time.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 25, @03:09AM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday April 25, @03:18AM (1 child)
Drivers have been dumb as fuck since the automobile came about and I think it's pretty safe to say this isn't gonna change anytime soon.
That's one thing autonomous vehicles have going for them: when they themselves stop being so damn dumb and people-controlled cars are finally outlawed, the number of deaths on the road will finally drop significantly. As much as I pity the loss of driving-related jobs that will ensue - taxi drivers, truckers and such - I look forward to the day this happens.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 25, @10:04AM
> ... people-controlled cars are finally outlawed
Not gonna happen everywhere. There's no profit in the precise mapping required to cover every possible road and private road/driveway.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Tuesday April 25, @07:26AM (1 child)
If you're outdriving your vision it's your own damn fault when you run into a stopped vehicle.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday April 25, @08:09AM
Agreed. It sucks for the poor guy who safely and appropriately stops then gets some idiot's car in the face though...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 25, @10:02AM (1 child)
> Stop the truck. Set the brakes.
Stop the truck. Set the brakes. Turn on the 4-way flashers (or more for a truck).
ftfy
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 25, @12:53PM
Already done, when my travel speed dropped to about half the posted speed limit. And, there were no cars behind me to worry about, I hadn't seen a car in more than an hour. But, thanks for thinking of the other guy!
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Tuesday April 25, @09:27AM (4 children)
Pulling over and stopping when you can't see shit is not a malfunction. That's driving safely.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Tuesday April 25, @12:05PM (1 child)
But, but, but, self driving cars run on unicorn magic, the TV says so! They should be better than humans, because "AI" and stuff, and just keep going, and working perfectly!
Yea... that is the problem with self driving cars. The only way they will "work" is if everyone accepts that they drive like grandmas.
Unless we forgo car ownership in the future, I fully expect to see hacks to make self driving cars faster and drive more aggressively.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday April 25, @03:06PM
Yea... that is the problem with self driving cars. The only way they will "work" is if everyone accepts that they drive like grandmas.
My mom was a great grandma when she died at age 92. She never got a traffic ticket or a wreck in her life, except when someone on her bowling team backed into her car when she was 88. All my life she was the safest driver I ever rode in a car with.
Everybody should drive like a grandma.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday April 25, @01:05PM (1 child)
Isn't this what you are supposed to do? And if you have to stop pull to the side of the road, don't stop in the middle of the road as then you are part of the traffic hazard -- fog or no fog or bad weather in general. Have drivers education failed these people? If anything it should probably be easier to teach this to self driving cars as they won't forget or argue about it. So driving-AI failure?
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday April 26, @02:48AM
I had to stop once because I couldn't even see where the road was. How was I supposed to know when I was at the side of said road?