Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Self-Driving Trucks? No, Thanks

It appears that "self-driving" cars are having a spot of trouble.

...Safety Research & Strategies Inc. reports that a new analysis of data related to car crashes involving Tesla vehicles autopilot feature has brought into question previous claims made by the NHTSA about the safety of Tesla vehicles. The government originally claimed that the autopilot feature reduced crashes by about 40 percent, while the new analysis finds a 59 percent increase in airbag deployments....

Granted:  GM, Ford, and Google (and, reportedly, Apple) are still in test-and-refine stages with their "self-drivers," so Tesla's miserable track record may not be a good comparison.

But there's another difference:  a fully-loaded 18-wheeler weighs FORTY TONS.  Eighty-thousand pounds.  If you are in the wrong place when one of them goes rogue, all the airbags on earth won't save your sorry ass--nor that of your wife and children.

1 comment:

William said...

Not to mention the dangers of software glitches, hackers, etc.