Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Agreed, but a number of these accidents on dividers had previous accidents on the exact same spots with human drivers. So humans do have trouble with it.

I would also like to point out, that dividers like these are dangerous in of themselves. There should never be knife-like intrusions into the driving space on a high speed road of any kind. They are also quite uncessary, a few simple left right signs that bend over when you drive over them followed by basically grass would have been a much better outcome. That being said it is still tragic.




This exit is a left hand exit for an HOV only ramp that originates a different freeway. The interchange is in the middle of a built out suburban area; there's no room for a grassy divider.

From experience driving around it, humans get dangerously close to the divider due to trying to change lanes much too late -- either into or out of the exit lane, often with a significant amount of braking. Durable cones separating the lanes might be an option, but would add significant maintenance expense.

The Tesla in question collided with the obstacle while its automation was attempting to maintain a lane, and because the automation detected that the car ahead had moved out of the lane, it also accelerated into the divider.

I seriously doubt many (or any) human drivers would misinterpret the position of the lane in this manner at this exit, especially given the conditions (clear day, sun high avoiding glare) despite the poor striping in the area.




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: