Automatic pedestrian avoidance - a mixed blessing?

[unixronin]

Jalopnik reports that the 2010 Volvo S60 will be equipped with an automated system that not only detects pedestrians and cyclists in or entering the vehicle's path, but automatically brakes if necessary to avoid hitting them.

On the face of it, this is an excellent idea.  But in an inner city, I would hope there's an override.  You see, over and

Comments

[wyrdling]

first thing i thought of too....
there's no reasonable way for a computer to gauge intent...

[lblanchard]

*shudder*

There's a dystopian vision for you. Concealed Carry Permit is the light and the way in this scenario.

[johnkzin]

No, the light and the way in this scenario is:

Don't take the decision making ability away from the driver.

At the very least, give them a manual over-ride, or an ability to quickly turn the feature on and off (similar to cruise control). Leave it on in normal circumstances, but have the ability to turn it off if need be (even if only for minutes at a time).

I'm not against any form of carry, but that doesn't mean that guns are the proper solution to badly designed cars and car features. The proper solution to badly designed anything is: fix the bad design; not put a bullet shaped band-aid on it.

[unixronin]

+1.

[lblanchard]

True that. My mind skipped to "trapped in an unmoving car with pipe-wielding carjackers outside."

[smandal]

Unless the error rate is like 0.01%, this system would make a mess in a dense urban scene.

[smandal]

I should say more precisely, "unless the rate of false positives is less than something like 0.01%" ...

[unixronin]

That too.

[jhetley]

Wonder if it also avoids moose . . .

[unixronin]

One would assume so. A moose is a bigger target, and the square-cube law suggests a hell of a thermal signature.

[jhetley]

Problem would be range -- car-on-moose violence usually occurs at higher velocities . . .

(Unlike the moose-on-car incident I reported a few days back.)

[unixronin]

Yeah, the article doesn't say anything about the effective range/speed envelope.

[mr_spock]

A lot of things that are excellent ideas "on the face of it" turn out to have very negative side effects that weren't intended. This looks to be one of those.

[jhetley]

"Law of Unintended Consequences." It's universal. Probably pan-universal.