First fatal accident involving a car in self driving mode

[mfb]

Clear road? It's not yet established that ITER can hold its plasma for the targeted 5 minutes, that sufficient tritium is bred, that the first wall does not suffer too much damage.

That's the point of research: figuring out those things. If ITER does not work at all, the current roadmap to fusion power plants is dead. Stellarators might get some attention, but I don't think they will get a lot of money then. If ITER works, DEMO can be constructed.

DEMO will be too expensive for a commercial power plant, but that is not the point - it is a research project. Science at DEMO can show what exactly is necessary for a commercial power plant, which leads to a proper cost estimate.

 

[mheslep]

I agree with all of that; it's research. I don't agree that R&D necessarily provides a clear path, as you say, to commercially useable technology, especially if fundamental scientific problems remain (as with fusion or completely autonomous vehicles). I'm couldn't say if the remaining difficulties are fundamental.

 

[Vanadium 50]

The NTSB report on the March 2018 fatal crash of a Model X was released yesterday: https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/Documents/2020-HWY18FH011-BMG-abstract.pdf

• The driver was playing a game on his Apple-owned iPhone while driving. Apple had no policy against this.
• The driver crashed into a crash attenuator at 71 mph. Because Autopilot did not recognize this as a vehicle, it accelerated the car into it in an attempt to reach the programmed speed.

 

[nsaspook]

The NTSB report on the March 2018 fatal crash of a Model X was released yesterday: https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/Documents/2020-HWY18FH011-BMG-abstract.pdf

• The driver was playing a game on his Apple-owned iPhone while driving. Apple had no policy against this.
• The driver crashed into a crash attenuator at 71 mph. Because Autopilot did not recognize this as a vehicle, it accelerated the car into it in an attempt to reach the programmed speed.

One NTSB solution is to lockout electronic distractions when driving to force engagement with the driving process.

Additionally, an engineering solution to the distracted driving problem is needed. Electronic device manufacturers have the capability to lock out highly distracting functions of portable electronic devices when being used by an operator while driving, and such a feature should be installed as a default setting on all devices.

I see that as being totally unrealistic with today's phone/gadget addicted drivers and basic Human Nature.
They will be doing just about anything OTHER than being engaged in the driving process. That is a poorly thought-out pipe dream

The real solution is actual level-5 self-driving instead of the fake level-2/3 self-driving seen in cars today.