Safety and Accountability

Discussion of accidents caused by autonomous vehicles, Tesla autopilot deaths, Cruise hiding dragging incident, questions about who bears responsibility

Public discourse surrounding autonomous vehicles reveals a sharp divide between frustration over corporate accountability and hope for a safer future. While some commenters condemn "cavalier" leadership at companies like Cruise for allegedly hiding a pedestrian dragging incident and criticize Tesla for prioritizing legal protection over safety following autopilot deaths, others highlight Waymo’s technological successes despite its tendency to block city traffic. This debate pits the daily nuisance of robotaxis against the lethal reality of human error, with proponents arguing that replacing distracted drivers with lidar-equipped systems will finally make roads safe for cyclists and families. Ultimately, the conversation underscores a deep-seated tension between impressive technical milestones and a perceived lack of transparency regarding safety data and corporate liability.

View on HN · Topics

Pushing Dan Ammann out was a bad idea. I personally like the original set up at the time. Kyle as the CTO and Dan as the CEO. Kyle was great as an internal CEO, he was calling most of the internal shots anyway. The accident would have played out very differently if Dan Ammann was the CEO IMO.

(Also former Cruise employee)

View on HN · Topics

Reputational risk to GM from the cavalier/shameful way Cruise/Kyle Vogt operated. Tried to hide the fact they dragged a person.

View on HN · Topics

Is this one going to stop parking on the side of city streets with the hazards on the middle of rush hour?

For all the impressive technological advances Waymo makes (and don’t get me wrong, they are impressive), their cars are still a constant obnoxious menace to drivers.

View on HN · Topics

Are they parking illegally and blocking traffic? The Waymo cars that I've seen parked on the side of city streets have been out of the traffic lanes but maybe I missed something.

View on HN · Topics

Yep! I'm not sure if they're waiting to pick people up or what, but they are straight up blocking traffic regularly in Midtown Atlanta. Usually its at least in the rightmost lane of a dual lane going the same direction, but a couple times now I've had to drive into the opposing traffic lane to get around them.

View on HN · Topics

Maybe the menace is the drivers. That's indisputable when you look at injuries per mile.

View on HN · Topics

His autopilot has killed several people, sometimes the owner of the car, sometimes other drivers sharing the road. It is hard to root for this guy.

View on HN · Topics

I don't thing it's purely stubbornness. Tesla sold the promise of software only updates resulting in FSD to hundreds of thousands of people. Not all of those people are in the cult of Tesla. I would expect admitting defeat at this point would result in a large class action lawsuit at the very least.

View on HN · Topics

The terms of service probably require you to sue Tesla in that Texas district with his corrupt judge pal.

View on HN · Topics

Waymo has posted videos of accidents they've avoided purely because their lidar picked up on a pedestrian before their cameras saw anything.

A favorite of mine:
https://x.com/dmitri_dolgov/status/1900219562437861685

View on HN · Topics

They're very public about the data that makes them look good, but they went to court to keep their safety data from the public. ( https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/22/waymo-to-keep-robotaxi-saf... )

View on HN · Topics

That lawsuit was about trade secrets shared with DMV. And DMV advised them to file a restraining order against a third party seeking redacted info.

View on HN · Topics

If self driving cars replace humans, I can safely bike on the road again, not having to worry about some exhausted soccer-parent scrolling tiktok on their phone in their minivan as they use me as a speed bump. Also as a parent/part time family taxi driver, I wouldlove to get back the ~10 hours a week I spend staring at the road. Kids will be driven by waymo to Karate, Soccer, Violin lessons etc. I am ready for this future.

Summarizer