The world's first self-driving fatality has been confirmed

[Jamie McKane]

The world's first self-driving fatality has been confirmed

Could this reopen debate as to whether we should be handing our control over while on the road?

[Crzwaco]

Lol one death and you want to throw in the towel. There once where a car the desert it drove into the only tree in 100km radius does this mean we should remove all the trees or stop driving cars...

[Avatar]

Lol one death and you want to throw in the towel. There once where a car the desert it drove into the only tree in 100km radius does this mean we should remove all the trees or stop driving cars...

More like 400 km.

[Crzwaco]

More like 400 km.

A yeah that is the one.

[Imperius]

A lesson maybe that we shouldn't put our lives 100% in the hands of machines, there should always be a human element

[Avatar]

A lesson maybe that we shouldn't put our lives 100% in the hands of machines, there should always be a human element

Well, this was a Tesla driving assist, where you need your hands on the steering wheel at all times for it to work, so maybe the human element was at fault too.. I think this story is being blown out of proportion because of the novelty value of the tech involved being imperfect.

[AstroTurf]

I think this story is being blown out of proportion because of the novelty value of the tech involved being imperfect.

This.

[Solitude]

A lesson maybe that we shouldn't put our lives 100% in the hands of machines, there should always be a human element

Pfft I can't wait to get a self driving car. There shouldn't always be a human element. In the case of this Tesla one, yes, because the driver was supposed to have his hands on the wheel in any case. But just look at the Google self driving cars and so forth. Absolutely amazing. I would trust that over a taxi driver at any time. In fact I would trust it over myself too because I'm only human.

[DarthRiven]

Yeah I dunno. This is a lot like people harping on about the dangers of nuclear power. There are dangers, yes. But statistically, it's so much safer, cheaper and more efficient than anything else that it doesn't even make any difference. Point is that a human driver in that situation wouldn't have seen the car either, and the exact same thing would have happened.

But yeah, this is an area where we need to be 100% sure that we're considering all avenues.

[Blazzok]

Yeah I dunno. This is a lot like people harping on about the dangers of nuclear power. There are dangers, yes. But statistically, it's so much safer, cheaper and more efficient than anything else that it doesn't even make any difference. Point is that a human driver in that situation wouldn't have seen the car either, and the exact same thing would have happened.

But yeah, this is an area where we need to be 100% sure that we're considering all avenues.

That is exactly what happened. The car's radar and sensors didn't pick up the car, but neither did the driver inside the car.

Sure, he might have been a bit more attentive if the "advanced cruise control" (it is not self driving) was not turned on or was not part of the car, but if he would have seen the truck then, no one will ever know.