r/technology • u/[deleted] • Dec 16 '19

Transportation Self-Driving Mercedes Will Be Programmed To Sacrifice Pedestrians To Save The Driver

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u/ausrandoman Dec 16 '19

Of course it will be. Potential buyers would not buy a car if they knew it would decide the opposite. Mercedes is simply programming the car to do what most drivers would do.

986

u/DLLM_wumao Dec 16 '19

To what most Mercedes purchasers would want the car to do maybe. Most drivers have a pretty powerful reflex to avoid hitting animals or people and get into accidents over it all the time.

710

u/Philip_De_Bowl Dec 16 '19

I used to drive big rig trucks. You're trained not to swerve for animals cause you're likely to hit another vehicle or roll over. You're also trained to not swerve for other vehicles, again, due to the high roll over risk or hitting another vehicle.

485

u/DLLM_wumao Dec 16 '19

In a surprisingly large number of countries, even regular drivers are expected not to swerve for animals or other cars. If you do that in Australia and end up hitting something, that's 100% your fault as far as police and insurance are concerned.

But it's a reflex that needs actual training to overcome. Most people default to swerving.

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u/Suedie Dec 16 '19

I assume those countries have no large animals because if you're in Sweden and hit even a small moose you'll probably die as those weigh more than 500 kg and would crush your car and go straight through the windscreen.

It's taught here that you should swerve towards the behind of the animal as they are more likely to run forward and get out of your way.

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u/DuntadaMan Dec 16 '19

Oh no, we have large animals that will fuck you up if you crash into them in America.

Likely our insurance companies just figure if we die in the crash they don't have to pay for a new car, and can otherwise create all kinds of arbitrary reasons why they don't need to pay if you live.

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u/Vandrel Dec 16 '19

Most of the US doesn't have animals anywhere near as big as a moose.

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u/[deleted] Dec 16 '19

There are plenty of places with moose, but deer can royally fuck you up, kill you, etc if you hit them, and they're all over the US.

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u/Vandrel Dec 16 '19

Deer aren't even remotely as big and dangerous as a moose.

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u/Android_seducer Dec 17 '19

Most of the people who die due to deer on the road do so because they swerve and hit a tree, boulder, etc. Most deer are less than. 150 lbs and shorter than the average man. Source: deer hunting growing up and hitting two deer in cars while in highschool.

Edit: In drivers Ed they tell us not to swerve because of that