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What Driverless Vehicles “See”
A few weeks ago we had a comment thread debate about whether autonomous vehicles would drive more safely than humans. The question was posed whether a driverless car could ‘see’ a pedestrian in dark clothes on a rainy night. This tweet claims that Google’s vehicle gathers about 1GB of data each second. I’m pretty sure…
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Shedding Some Light on “Be Seen, Be Safe”
Along with the shortening of the days and the return of the rain, it appears that the parade of retro-reflectivity brought about by campaigns such as Tri-Met’s “Be Seen Be Safe” is becoming an autumn tradition in these parts. The award-winning initiative, which encourages people walking and riding to dress for maximum visibility, probably sounds…
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Can Google Drive Better than You?
Via Slashdot: They think they can. Based on a paper they presented at a robotics conference recently, they believe their technology already performs better than human drivers. A key approach – avoid dangerous conditions. For example, their software is much better than humans at doing things like maintaining a safe distance from the vehicle in…
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Not Sure Why We Don’t Hear More About This
The Streetblog network has a post about getting sidebars on trucks that would protect cyclists and pedestrians. Sure’re you’d still have a really bad day in a collision, but preventing vulnerable road users from going under the wheels might prevent a lot of fatalities.
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I Suspected…
The Business Journal is covering a report by Allstate Insurance that ranks Portland’s drivers among the worst in the nation. Given the spate of crashes with people walking and biking, not to mention a rash of driving into streetcars, I can’t help wonder if we’re getting worse…