So you’re saying Piper was responsible for he Super Cub hitting the van that was parked on the runway to prevent the Super Cub from taking off with the pilot in the back seat and the front seat removed so that the passenger could sit backwards?
Not an attorney.... But my understanding is that decades ago, the "shrink wrap license agreement", where you agree that the manufacturer isn't liable for any failure of their product has been upheld. Otherwise, every business in the country that has lost revenue to software errors would have sued Microsoft and others out of existence years ago. The only part of our economy less worried about civil liability than software companies are people working in the illegal drug trade.
Sure, there are examples of failure in the judicial system. Those failures played a role in almost killing GA. I see no reason to believe that the judicial system is better today than it was now. So that threat still exists.
So nothing has changed, and GA still exists. Why is it necessary to “be careful” about holding car manufacturers accountable for decisions they make?
Something has changed. Something very important. The govt limited GA liability. Which is what I suggested a few messages ago. Maybe we should, in return for liability limitations, have the DOT create a test framework for FSDs. If they pass, they get the liability limitation. If they don't, they can't ship the product.
meeting a government standard hasn’t been a defense for airplane landing ability limits. Why should it work for cars?
I dunno. . .the sensor tech and AI will make inroads, slowly, but aren't nearly there yet. Interstate use eventually with frequent route surveys, overhead imaging, vehicle data exchange . . . But Level 5 fully autonomous in downtown metro city? Our grandkids might step into a vehicle and nap on the way to work. Maybe mid-career or later?
Waymo has been doing that for almost five year and now serves Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. Tesla starts their service in Austin next month.
I kinda wish they could go back in time and try it out in NYC in the 80's. "We lost the car." "What do you mean we lost the car. It's always on GPS tracking, there are cameras everywhere, you can't lose the car." "Maybe so, but it's gone." Nobody saw anything.
Is level 6 where the car runs over a pedestrian, realizes it screwed up, and changes all the data to make it look like the human ran them over? Or does that require interaction by home office?
Not yet, marginally Level 4 right now, last I checked. But been a while, I admit. Someday, ubiquitous, any road, any route. Maybe with some added supporting infrastructure, "NAVAIDS" for lack of a better word, except at a much more granular level.
Yeah, but your grandkids can get in the back seat and nap all the way to work (or preschool) with no driver in the car.
Agree. The fundamental difference between Level 4 and 5 is level 4 is effectively geofenced. As long as the grandkids and your house are within the geofence, no problem.
I think Tesla is the closest on that. FSD works fine anywhere you drive. The initial Robotaxi service will be geofenced but that isn't a limitation of the system, as it is with Waymo. It is the next stage in the rollout.
I don't know if Tesla uses this resource, but some roads near Shanghai have signage indicating that the area was being used to train autonomous cars.
I had not heard of that.
I only know because I was in the area and saw the signs. I thought it was nice to let people know what might be sharing the road with you.
I noticed a few in Washington DC last week, too.
In Phoenix and a couple of other cities. They're in Dallas now too, but they're in the pilot phase.
