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281 points nharada | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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NullHypothesist ◴[] No.45902077[source]
This is a huge sign of confidence that they think they can do this safely and at scale... Freeways might appear "easy" on the surface, but there are all sorts of long tail edge-cases that make them insanely tricky to do confidently without a driver. This will unlock a lot for them with all of the smaller US cities (where highways are essential) they've announced plans for over the next year or so.
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terminalshort ◴[] No.45902240[source]
Freeways are easier than surface streets. The reason they held off allowing highways is because Waymo wants to minimize the probability of death for PR purposes. They figure they can get away with a lot of wrecks as long as they don't kill people.
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jordanb ◴[] No.45902300[source]
There's also the risk of a phantom breaking event causing a big pileup. The PR of a Waymo causing a large cascading accident would be horrible.
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1. xnx ◴[] No.45902754[source]
Do Waymos phantom brake? Given the number of trips hey do I would imagine there would be a ton of videos if that was happening.
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2. razingeden ◴[] No.45902877[source]
they brake to “suss out” certain things, that ive noticed:

construction workers, delivery vehicles, traffic cones.. nothing unreasonable for it to approach with caution, brake for, and move around.

the waymo usually gets about 2 feet away from a utility truck and then sits there confused for awhile before it goes away.

it usually gets very close to these hazards before making that maneuver.

it seems like having a flashing utility strobe really messes with it and it gets extra cautious and weird around those. now, it should be respectful of emergency lights but-

i would see a problem here if it decided to do this on a freeway , five feet away from a pulled over cop or someone changing a tire.

it sure does spazz out and sit there for a long time over the emergency lights before it decides what to do

i really wish there was a third party box we could wire into strobes (or the hazard light circuit) that would universally tell an autonomous car “hey im over here somewhere you may not be expecting me , signaling for attention.”

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3. jordanb ◴[] No.45903041[source]
> sits there confused for awhile before it goes away.

Probably what you're witnessing is the car sitting in exception state until a human remote driver gets assigned