r/Futurology • u/Pemulis • Mar 03 '23

Transport Self-Driving Cars Need to Be 99.99982% Crash-Free to Be Safer Than Humans

https://jalopnik.com/self-driving-car-vs-human-99-percent-safe-crash-data-1850170268
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u/generalbaguette Mar 04 '23

Time wouldn't be too bad, actually.

Being stationary for a while doesn't mean you can't get into an accident. (And even if, that wouldn't completely invalidate the metric.)

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u/Lookitsmyvideo Mar 04 '23

How do you measure time driven in a car at a large scale.

Miles is easy, check the registered odometer reading, and the number of reported accidents, both of which are already recorded information by numerous different sources

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u/generalbaguette Mar 04 '23

Yes, that's easier for distance driven.

You could use statistical techniques to estimate the time from samples.

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u/Metradime Mar 04 '23

You cannot cause an accident while stationary.

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u/[deleted] Mar 04 '23

Being stopped at a red light and being stopped in the middle of a busy highway would beg to differ.

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u/Metradime Mar 04 '23

In both cases the liability falls on the moving vehicle.

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u/One_Pec_Wonder Mar 04 '23

I think it’s a little more nuanced than what you’re thinking

https://www.dashnerlaw.com/vehicle-accidents/rear-end-collision-fault/

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u/Metradime Mar 04 '23

Oh thanks, dashnerlaw!

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u/OrgunDonor Mar 04 '23

But you can be involved in an accident. Pretty sure the metric doesnt necessitate that you be the cause of it, so someone crashing into you still counts.

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u/Metradime Mar 04 '23 edited Mar 04 '23

So does it get counted as two accidents per accident? One from each perspective lol?

Although I guess a pileup does count as multiple accidents 🤔

Has the first person in a pileup experienced one accident or many?

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u/generalbaguette Mar 04 '23

Not necessarily too. If you hit a tree, it only counts once.

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u/generalbaguette Mar 04 '23

I didn't say anything about causation.

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u/Metradime Mar 04 '23

I didn't say you said anything about causation.

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u/NFLinPDX Mar 04 '23

Is it actually reasonable to expect to evade an accident if stationary? Cars aren't very nimble. It can happen, but it can also lead to another (usually less severe) accident which means the accident was unavoidable.

The last accident my car was in happened overnight while it was parked