Musk: "You're only going real fast in the forward direction."
Dozens of times in my life, I have been driving down the freeway at 70 MPH in a 60 MPH zone, and I've noticed someone weaving through traffic behind me, going closer to 140 MPH.
I need to know whether to change lanes, stay in my lane, stop changing lanes, pump my breaks to indicate there is slowdown ahead of me that car might not see, etc.
Just food for thought.
EDIT: I'd also like my vehicle to be good at avoiding a car that's about to T-Bone me, at night, with no headlights on. I may not be very good at avoiding that kind of accident today, but if LIDAR is necessary to protect me from that kind of accident, then I might think it's a wonderful idea.
You're not responsible for dodging the person going 140 MPH behind you to the same extent as you are for dodging the tire doing 0mph in front of you. Humans generally don't because they aren't capable of paying enough attention to what is behind and in front of them simultaneously. The car - with 360 degree vision - is more capable in fact.
The person who wrote that doesn’t realize how fast 140 would seem. That kind of speed differential is not something you can attempt to avoid. Even 100 vs. 70 is rare, and the safest thing to do given that differential is nothing. This is not an area any car company should worry about.
I agree that the safest thing to do is nothing. Which is why if I'm about to change lanes, and I spot this kind of behavior coming up rapidly from behind me, I abort my lane change. Even if I was moving to the Right lane (you never know which way these jerks are going to go.)
It is absolutely something a car company should worry about. Avoiding obstacles from any direction.
If a power line is falling down. If a construction crane is swinging wildly.
It's Defensive Driving.
Also, note, I said "closer to 140 MPH". I actually just saw another one on Sunday. Crotch Rocket motorcycle, in the far right line on a 5 lane freeway. No helmet. Hey, someone's got to be an organ donor, right?
I see. I would also consider an aborted lane change doing nothing. However, I wouldn’t try to jerk back into my lane if a car was approaching me with that kind of differential since a) they don’t have time to react and may have been planning to go into my origin lane, for all I know, and b) by the time such a fast car is spotted, they would likely pass my car too quickly for any lateral movement to leave their trajectory.
Your other examples would be happening in front of the car.
> I would also consider an aborted lane change doing nothing.
Aborting a lane change before you initiate it is changing your behavior, in response to a danger.
> Your other examples would be happening in front of the car.
Or from the side.
Or from behind, again. If I'm in stop-and-go, danger can come from behind. Picture an ambulance coming up from behind. You absolutely should change your behavior, depending on conditions all around you. Not just the front.
Dozens of times in my life, I have been driving down the freeway at 70 MPH in a 60 MPH zone, and I've noticed someone weaving through traffic behind me, going closer to 140 MPH.
I need to know whether to change lanes, stay in my lane, stop changing lanes, pump my breaks to indicate there is slowdown ahead of me that car might not see, etc.
Just food for thought.
EDIT: I'd also like my vehicle to be good at avoiding a car that's about to T-Bone me, at night, with no headlights on. I may not be very good at avoiding that kind of accident today, but if LIDAR is necessary to protect me from that kind of accident, then I might think it's a wonderful idea.