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I have no words. Is this "small problem" our future?

kenny

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I thought sh!theads texting while driving was the lowest possible ...

"A Canadian man has been charged with dangerous driving for allegedly taking a nap while his self-driving Tesla car clocked up more than 90mph (150km/h).

Police said both front seats were fully reclined, and the driver and passenger were apparently asleep when they were alerted to the incident in Alberta.

When police turned on emergency lights and other vehicles moved out of the way, the Tesla Model S sped up.

The 20-year-old driver from British Columbia is due in court in December.

He had initially been charged with speeding and handed a 24-hour licence suspension for fatigue, but was subsequently charged with dangerous driving.

The incident happened near Ponoka, some 100km south of Edmonton, in July.

"Nobody was looking out the windshield to see where the car was going," Police Sgt Darri Turnbull told CBC News.

He said that when they put on their emergency lights the Tesla accelerated, with vehicles ahead of it moving out of the way.

"Nobody appeared to be in the car, but the vehicle sped up because the line was clear in front."

He added: "I've been in policing for over 23 years, and the majority of that in traffic law enforcement, and I'm speechless. I've never, ever seen anything like this before but of course the technology wasn't there."

Tesla cars currently operate at a level-two Autopilot, which requires the driver to remain alert and ready to act, with hands on the wheel.

Tesla founder Elon Musk has said he expects his vehicles to be completely autonomous, with little driver input needed, by the end of the year.

However, he added that there were "many small problems" that would need solving through real-world testing."


 
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Rhea

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What are you referring to as a small problem? The self driving vehicle or the driver's inability to control their vehicle in line with current regulations?

I hope that self-driving cars are the way of our future. I can't wait to see them and think that they have the potential to stop many accidents and improve road safety. As always, our laws and regulations will be behind the times, playing catch-up.

Currently both the law and the car are set up so that the driver must be awake with hands on the wheel and I believe that needs to be followed for safety because we just aren't to completely autonomous cars yet. Failure to be in control of any vehicle in line with current laws needs to be prosecuted as dangerous or reckless driving.
 

voce

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@Rhea I think the problems here are the self driving vehicle and the implicit trust of technology.

Do you really not foresee that the terrorism of the future will be hacking self driving cars, or the satellites they depend on for navigation, to create mega collisions? When people get hacked today, it's usually financial fraud and identity theft, which normal people can recover from. If self driving cars get hacked, the result will be fatal, regardless of what the future laws will say.
 

tyty333

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I hope they also ticketed him with evading police since the car sped up instead of slowing down while they were trying to stop him. I think
in the meantime these semi-autonomous cars need to have technology that can detect that eyes are on the road and hands on the wheel.
Can't be that complicated compared to self-driving cars. Also, I'm sure these cars know the speed limit right? Should a user be able to set
the speed to go that much over the speed limit for a prolonged period of time?

Edit...good point @voce
 

Rockdiamond

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I’ve looked into Tesla- the driver must have their hands on the wheel for the self driving feature to work. So this is either a glitch in the system or something else. Of course glitches are possible.... but the engineering of those cars is impressive
 

Rhea

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@voce I get excited about tech, new ideas and progress. Just because I get excited about what the future holds doesn't mean that I don't foresee problems with it. With new problems, we should create new solutions, not slow progress. If I live for another 30-50 years I expect I'll see just as much, if not many more, changes and advancements then I've already seen during my life. That excites me!

@Rockdiamond amazing tech! A friend has a Model 3. I swear it beeps at everything and I can't think you'd be able to drive while sleeping. That's a pretty major glitch if so. But have you seen the build quality of the Teslas? It's pretty appalling.
 

Rockdiamond

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But have you seen the build quality of the Teslas? It's pretty appalling.

I have....but it seems mostly body panels which are not perfectly fitted- gaps and so on.
Have you heard about other problems?
I'm very close to leasing a model Y
 

Rhea

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I have....but it seems mostly body panels which are not perfectly fitted- gaps and so on.
Have you heard about other problems?
I'm very close to leasing a model Y


Our friend put pressure on the edge of the windscreen and it shattered. It's like it's not attached at the top so it's not protected. Like the gaps we all know about, but around the windscreen! This friend is rather accident prone though so it might be him. Keep reading!

Share your access, done via phone app, with a trusted friend or partner though, if you phone dies or gets lost or stolen, you will be locked out of your car. Our friend's car is now on my husband phone because our friend lets his phone battery get too low for it to unlock his car. Occasionally, just to be annoying, when we know it's parked at home, we honk it's horn from 25 miles away just for kicks.

Eta: He's also rolled, just foot off the petrol, his car into the curb and destroyed 2 wheels. He's had 3 wheel replaced because he's done that twice. The front bumper has been replaced, but I can't remember why. I can see the gaps when I go to grab the handle so I think the build quality is appalling, but I can't really explain why. My friend is accident prone, but most of this was done within the first few months so it seems a very easy car to break.
 
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Rockdiamond

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I understand that you get a card which works in leu of a phone....
 

MaisOuiMadame

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I understand that you get a card which works in leu of a phone....
Yes, that's right.


We have an x and are very happy. No quality issues whatsoever. You have the app on your phone, but you also have a key card on the form of a mini x . So if you're prone to phone problems, just take the key card with you.
DH has it on him like with a regular car. Only problem is that small kids find that car key fascinating (as do many adults, lol), so don't leave it unattended!
 

Rhea

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I understand that you get a card which works in leu of a phone....

No idea what's happened to it! But yes that's familiar, I have seen his card before.
 

Rockdiamond

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Yes, that's right.


We have an x and are very happy. No quality issues whatsoever. You have the app on your phone, but you also have a key card on the form of a mini x . So if you're prone to phone problems, just take the key card with you.
DH has it on him like with a regular car. Only problem is that small kids find that car key fascinating (as do many adults, lol), so don't leave it unattended!

NICE!!!

May I ask what color you got? We're in love with the red...but $2k for a color???
 

MaisOuiMadame

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We're boring, all our cars are dark metallic grey (matchy matchy), but DH loves light beige interior - and he got it despite our 6 kids. Brave man :lol:
 

Daisys and Diamonds

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Our friend put pressure on the edge of the windscreen and it shattered. It's like it's not attached at the top so it's not protected. Like the gaps we all know about, but around the windscreen! This friend is rather accident prone though so it might be him. Keep reading!

Share your access, done via phone app, with a trusted friend or partner though, if you phone dies or gets lost or stolen, you will be locked out of your car. Our friend's car is now on my husband phone because our friend lets his phone battery get too low for it to unlock his car. Occasionally, just to be annoying, when we know it's parked at home, we honk it's horn from 25 miles away just for kicks.

Eta: He's also rolled, just foot off the petrol, his car into the curb and destroyed 2 wheels. He's had 3 wheel replaced because he's done that twice. The front bumper has been replaced, but I can't remember why. I can see the gaps when I go to grab the handle so I think the build quality is appalling, but I can't really explain why. My friend is accident prone, but most of this was done within the first few months so it seems a very easy car to break.

Maybe he should get a cheaper (but something safe) car till he ups his driving skills
 

yssie

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And a 20-year-old driver. That takes "spoiled brat" to a whole new level!
This was my first reaction too...

And my second was to laugh at the idea of a car taking advantage of the clearer road thanks to the cops going after it :lol:

If anyone was wondering how AI and ethics should or shouldn't mix - exhibits A-Z in this excellent article :lol:
 

jaysonsmom

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We're boring, all our cars are dark metallic grey (matchy matchy), but DH loves light beige interior - and he got it despite our 6 kids. Brave man :lol:

We have a whole lineup of charcoal gray cars too! I’m looking at a model Y for my next car, but with all the crazy glitches being mentioned here, I’m beginning to doubt this an AI car purchase!
 

voce

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To me, the most remarkable part is the ability to fall asleep in the driver's seat. How?? I can't even sleep on transatlantic flights.

When the AI is driving, it's a passenger in the driver's seat. Comparing flights to a road trip is a logical fallacy, because you experience much more turbulence and nose in the air.

I'm never able to fall asleep on red eye flights, yet I'm in danger of falling asleep often on driving long stretches of monotonous roads that I often drive, hence I need to listen to an audiobook, or drink coffee on a road trip.

The young people here likely trusted the technology too much, so had no fear of falling asleep in the driver's seat.
 

inne

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When the AI is driving, it's a passenger in the driver's seat. Comparing flights to a road trip is a logical fallacy, because you experience much more turbulence and nose in the air.

I'm never able to fall asleep on red eye flights, yet I'm in danger of falling asleep often on driving long stretches of monotonous roads that I often drive, hence I need to listen to an audiobook, or drink coffee on a road trip.

The young people here likely trusted the technology too much, so had no fear of falling asleep in the driver's seat.

I can't sleep when I'm a passenger in a car either. It is very annoying.
 
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