1148
Self-Driving Teslas Are Fatally Striking Motorcyclists More Than Any Other Brand: New Analysis (fuelarc.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
216 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

TL;DR: Self-Driving Teslas Rear-End Motorcyclists, Killing at Least 5

Brevity is the spirit of wit, and I am just not that witty. This is a long article, here is the gist of it:

  • The NHTSA’s self-driving crash data reveals that Tesla’s self-driving technology is, by far, the most dangerous for motorcyclists, with five fatal crashes that we know of.
  • This issue is unique to Tesla. Other self-driving manufacturers have logged zero motorcycle fatalities with the NHTSA in the same time frame.
  • The crashes are overwhelmingly Teslas rear-ending motorcyclists.

Read our full analysis as we go case-by-case and connect the heavily redacted government data to news reports and police documents.

Oh, and read our thoughts about what this means for the robotaxi launch that is slated for Austin in less than 60 days.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 9 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Humans are terrible drivers. The open question is are self driving cars overall safer than human driven cars. So far the only people talking either don't have data, or have reason cherry pick only parts of the data that make self driving look good. This is the one exception where someone seemingly independent has done analysis - the question is are they unbiased, or are they cherry picking data to make self driving look bad (I'm not familiar with the source so I can't answer that)

Either way more study is needed.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] [S] 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I am absolutely biased. It's me, I'm the source :)

    I'm a motorcyclist, and I don't want to die. Also just generally, motorcyclists deserve to get where they are going safely.

    I agree with you. Self-driving cars will overall greatly improve highway safety.

    I disagree with you when you suggest that pointing out flaws in the technology is evidence of bias, or "cherry picking to make self driving look bad." I think we can improve on the technology by pointing out its systemic defects. If it hits motorcyclists, take it off the road, fix it, and then save lives by putting it back on the road.

    That's the intention of the coverage, at least: I am hoping to apply pressure to improve rather than remove. Read my Waymo coverage, I'm actually a big automation enthusiast, because fewer crashes is a good thing.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    Humans are terrible. The human eyes and brain are good at detecting certain things though that allow a reaction where computer vision, especially only using one method of detection, fails often. There are times when an automated system will prevent a problem before a human could even see it. So far neither is the clear winner, human driving just has a legacy that automation has to beat by a great length and not just be good enough.

    On the topic of human drivers, I think most on the road drive reactively and not based on prediction and anticipation. Given the speed and possible detection methods, a well designed automated system should be excelling at this. It costs more and it more complex to design such a thing, so we're getting the bare bones of the best minimum tech can give us right now, which again is not a replacement for all cases.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent