Slow Humans Raise Seriously Ironic Safety Concerns Over Autonomous Cars
The surprising length of time it takes the average human to re-take control from an autonomous car has blown the subject of the new technology’s safety wide open.
Autonomous cars can’t yet handle all situations, and sometimes have to ask the human behind the wheel to take charge for a while, sounding and/or flashing a warning that the vehicle is about to relinquish control.
Researchers at the University of Southampton have completed a study that found the median length of time between a test car’s prompt and the human taking over, even when the person in question was focused only on driving, was 4.56 seconds. Ouch.
The study, which used 26 male and female subjects aged between 20 and 52, saw each driver placed in an autonomous vehicle simulator set at 70mph. On the first run the driver focused only on the drive, but then on the second attempt read a newspaper instead.
Clearly, 4.56 seconds is more than enough time, if the situation turns critical, to have had a colossal accident before the human ever gets to grips with the situation.
And when the human was absorbed in a newspaper instead of focusing on the road, that median time figure rose to 6.06 seconds. If it was an emergency, the driver could be in trouble before even taking their reading glasses off.
What’s worse, the lowest recorded reaction times in the study were 21 and 26 seconds, and when you translate that into a car stomping completely unguided down the motorway, an accident could be inevitable.
Considering that 70mph is 102 feet per second, even the lowest median reaction time would mean 465ft being covered before any human intervention. Scary? We think so.
The conclusion of the research is that 4.5 seconds, or even six seconds, isn’t enough notice to give drivers in order to be fully safe. But how can drivers or passengers possibly expect to be given more advance notice than that before being asked to take the wheel?
It should be interesting to see where this goes, and how the law reflects personal responsibility. If humans in autonomous cars can’t relax and do other things without fearing for their lives, what’s the point at all?
Source: Autoblog
Comments
Does this mean you can get smashed at the pub and still legally drive home? Hmmm
The more cars babysit us, the dumber we get.
easy- ban autonomous cars. job done
I sort of get it. It’s like coming off the Autobahn after a long stretch of 140mph and then trying to readjust to driving at 30mph.
Technology isn’t the problem here, it’s the distracted and unintelligent humans not making enough of an effort to use it properly. In my city it takes a driver, on average, a ridiculous 2.8 seconds to react to someone changing into the lane directly in front of them or hard braking in front of them! I cruise around the city alot during the day and at night, around 2.5 hours per day on occasion. And every time I’m out, I see a minimum of 5-10 drivers with that horrific reaction time of 2.8 seconds or more. Unlike humans, autonomous vehicles can react almost instantaneously.
I can’t believe people would blame technology for human inability or lack of attention. I never relax when I’m driving an MB with the drive pilot turned on. There is a reason why a driver is still required to be in the driver sear even though a Tesla can drive it’s self. Not so you can read a book, watch a movie, fiddle with the interior gadgets or your cell phone. Don’t restrict and muzzle the technology, set reaction test requirements that have to be matched before autonomous mode can be enabled. An excellent example is when rich people who can’t handle a super car, crash said shiny new super car; money doesn’t buy skill. It’s the same idea with autonomous vehicles, If your a driver before you drive an autonomous vehicle, you will still be that same sad driver when the vehicle hands the controls back over to you during an emergency while driving.
Sometimes the problem with technology, isn’t technology itself but the human trying to use it. In the shop I work at, over 90% of the customer complaints where no problem is found has been due to USER ERROR. People who blame their vehicle for a PROBLEM WITH THEMSELVES, NOT THE VEHICLE. Don’t hold technology to such a high standard, if you aren’t willing to do the same with the humans that want use it.
That’s my rant for a while. #technologyftw
Airlines have this issue with auto-pilot and hence require pilots regularly take simulator experiences of it going wrong, however this won’t happen with cars so we are just going to end up with lots of drivers thinking it never will go wrong, trouble is when it is they will be totally unaware and unprepared
The technology that have a loooooooooooooooooooong way to get applicated on cars. Do you want a computer that can’t handle emergency situation to drive a car?
Autonomous cars are the devil.
The only legal issue I see is this; if your autonomous car crashes itself into another car are you the driver liable or the car company?
Semi autonomous is exactly the point, your concentration should still always be on the road, even auto pilot in air craft need to be constantly monitored. People are the problem, not their reaction times
Aerodynamic by Daft Punk, great choon Alex!