Mercedes-Benz debuts turquoise exterior lights to indicate the car is self-driving | A visual indicator for other drivers::undefined
That’s actually a fantastic idea
Mercedes-Benz debuts turquoise exterior lights to indicate the car is self-driving | A visual indicator for other drivers
Submitted 10 months ago by L4s@lemmy.world [bot] to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
therealjcdenton@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Aye, credit where it’s due; this is a great way to differentiate between human and machine controlled devices. It’s detectable by both, and can help in cases where people blame the autodrive, or car companies claim human error.
KpntAutismus@lemmy.world 10 months ago
tells me what cars i need to be extra careful around.
yes i know people are horrible at driving, but at least the average person is predictable. Rule #1: constant foresight and respect to other drivers Rule #2: Expect mistakes, illegal u-turns, and people taking right of way
Assman@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
I for one would like to know when another car isn’t being driven by a human.
Steve@communick.news 10 months ago
Eventually the reverse will be equally important. So this will be a good idea for decades at least.
Poem_for_your_sprog@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I’ll just stick some turquoise lights on my car
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
If your car is obviously old and you just bought some shitty magnetic tow lights and simply swapped the color it would be extra funny.
adaveinthelife@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Just seeing a turn signal on a Mercedes or BMW is enough for me to assume the driver isn’t the one in control.
Noedel@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That or it not being double parked.
nudnyekscentryk@szmer.info 10 months ago
Good idea I think, but these could be mistaken for reverse lights
Fondots@lemmy.world 10 months ago
On that note, can we talk about how shit a lot of reverse lights are? In addition to indicating that you’re backing up, they’re also supposed to function as a sort of rear-facing headlight so you can see what your backing up towards, but their size, placement, and brightness on a lot of cars makes them pretty much useless for that in a lot of cases.
I’m not saying they need to be as bright as your regular headlights, that would be serious overkill, but they should probably be noticeably brighter than a turquoise self-driving indicator light would ever need to be.
ThePantser@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Found Alec’s Lemmy account
I_Miss_Daniel@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Whacking on the hazard lights can be helpful when reversing, for light.
DemBoSain@midwest.social 10 months ago
They’re not supposed to be rear-facing headlights. You don’t even have to have 2 of them (1 is acceptable as long as it’s visible enough). And unlike every other light, there’s no restriction on where it goes. It’s almost like it was an afterthought when they were writing the regulations.
SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Maybe light placement is more important?
Plopp@lemmy.world 10 months ago
How about next to the brake lights?
scottywh@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Turquoise is also a shade of blue so I think that may make them illegal in the US since blue lights are only legal on emergency vehicles.
AA5B@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Seems like a bad idea - you know someone is going to figure out how to take advantage of that.
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Scofflaw - ai has no pride or ego so I can cut them off at will and they will always back down
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scammer - manufacturer has deep pockets - where’s my neck brace?
filcuk@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
I’m sorry, but I can’t actually imagine that happening where I live.
Do people who cut others off care who’s driving?ridethisbike@lemmy.world 10 months ago
He’s referring to a group of people they intentionally cut others off and slam on the brakes to induce an accident that they can sue over. And it happens a lot. Dash cams are saviors.
KrankyKong@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I sure don’t
otp@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
I’m sure some people take age, gender, and/or race into consideration when deciding who they can cut off
KevonLooney@lemm.ee 10 months ago
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Scofflaw - Why does the person in the self-driving car care? They’re just chilling. Zooming ahead of other cars doesn’t get you more than a few minutes ahead. If that’s really important to you, you should have left your house a few minutes earlier.
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Scammer - These cars are covered in cameras and radars. These are the opposite of the cars you want to jump in front of (except Tesla, which sucks). They’ll probably just film you launching yourself from the curb and stop before they hit you. I guess you can get on America’s Funniest Home Videos?
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mlg@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Do the same thing, but hook it up to a camera that detects if your eyes are on the road lol.
KredeSeraf@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Most FSD cars have that. People just ignore the warnings and popups.
aStonedSanta@lemm.ee 10 months ago
The car should pull over then. Lol
froh42@lemmy.world 10 months ago
The reason for these lights is that Mercedes has Level 3 autonomy, so the car can self drive without the driver taking attention - for example here in Germany it is illegal (and there are photo traps) to use your phone on while driving. The lights are a solution to the exemption that you are allowed to use your phone while your car is on Level 3 autonomy.
On level 3 you need to be able to take over again within 30 seconds after the car actively asks you to do so.
KpntAutismus@lemmy.world 10 months ago
30 seconds is a LOT of time.
Maggoty@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Yeah that last bit. That’s unacceptable for at least another decade. Drivers should be responsible for their vehicles at all times.
jo3shmoo@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
My aftermarket Openpilot setup does this with a camera pointed at the driver. I’m good about paying attention but apparently if it alerts too many times that you’re distracted it will disable itself until you restart the car.
noxy@yiffit.net 10 months ago
I was just thinking, gosh, it’s been awhile since a new car signal dropped. This is a super interesting idea - not sure if it’s a GOOD idea but seems worth exploring
ItsMeSpez@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I think it’s a pretty good idea, at least for this period of transition towards self-driving vehicles. I think it’s useful information for other drivers to know that the vehicle is being controlled by a computer and not a real human.
noxy@yiffit.net 10 months ago
Agreed! I would welcome that bit of additional information about a car I’m sharing the road with.
MrBusiness@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
Kinda disagree, at least in the US the trogs are going to purposely mess with these vehicles as they already do but easier to target. But at least other countries don’t have lowbrow coal rollers.
NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 10 months ago
My stupid ass car has brake checked people while self driving. I wish it had this…
postnataldrip@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Brb, wiring up a set of these so I can blame the car for missing a speed sign
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 10 months ago
… the ticket would still exist. Are you thinking you would be able to send it to your car manufacturer so they can look into what happened?
I_Miss_Daniel@lemmy.world 10 months ago
This could be useful as a communication medium where the car transmits data through the light to the neighbours.
feecoomeeq@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I think it would be also cool to have an indicator if the car in front of you has cruise control on
Grimy@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That would be great for the driver himself. The amount of times I’ve had to play leap frogs with someone only to be given a dirty look when hes the one that constantly slows down and accelerates.
LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Wow I’ve been thinking about that for a while now. We should be able to tell when someone is driving or an Ai is.
Maggoty@lemmy.world 10 months ago
And I live in California. Of course we’re going to help rich people avoid all consequences of their actions. Because paying attention to where your 1 ton metal missile is going is too much to ask. But only if you can afford the turquoise lights.
mob@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I don’t think I understand how adding safety indicators to elevate awareness of self driving vehicles helps rich people avoid all consequence.
As a poor person, I’d like to know if a car I’m driving by is self driving.
Maggoty@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Mercedes is a luxury brand. And as the article states, in California and Nevada drivers will get a legal pass on distracted driving if the system and lights are on.
So the drivers of these luxury cars are no longer responsible for what the car does.
gibbedygook@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
why would i need to know another car is self driving though?
davidgro@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Same reason at this point as “Student Driver” bumper stickers - so you know it’s inexperienced and may behave weirdly, so maybe keep a bit more distance than usual or something.
Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
So you don’t call the cops when you overtake them and see then eating a bowl of cereal, jerking it, while watching Flinstones.
saltesc@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That’s what I thought. I can only imagine idiots will see it and try fuck with it. Anyone else be like, “Okay… So just keep doing what I’m currently doing.”
It’s marketing, if anything.
My theory on Audi bringing out animated indicators was that they were quickly getting a damaging reputation of Audi drivers not using indicators; a reputation their competitor BMW is negatively married to. To prevent this, they appealed to making them unique and special, no one else had them, so the drivers would want to use them. Thus actively mitigating brand damage on BMW levels.
JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 10 months ago
I would love to have an indicator for adaptive cruise control because the way it only reacts to the car right in front of you rather aggressively means it causes shockwave traffic jams unless the human driver behind you keeps enough distance.
18107@aussie.zone 10 months ago
I have a prototype self driving system in my car. It drives logically and consistently, but it doesn’t behave like a human.
This would be a really helpful feature as self driving becomes more common.
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 10 months ago
The point of the lights obviously being to push the responsibility onto the drivers around the self-driven car, rather than the manufacturer who actually made the faulty autopilot.
RoyaltyInTraining@lemmy.world 10 months ago
If we need warning lights for self driving cars, the technology is not ready.
otter@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Eh, it’s probably good to have regardless?
It’s less about being careful around the car and more about how you might interact with it.
We could use some new standards with how many things have changed in recent years brake lights on electric vehicles being another thing to consider
toofpic@lemmy.world 10 months ago
“Gentle horn” sounds like a 80s romantic pop song.
Synthead@lemmy.world 10 months ago
You’re still the driver in the self-driving car. If someone honks, you have pedals and a wheel in front of you. It always comes down to driver neglect. It’s like blaming the cruise control for speeding, but giving cruise control more responsibilities.
barsoap@lemm.ee 10 months ago
RoyaltyInTraining@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Okay that is the first argument for it I’ve read that actually makes sense
Postcard64@lemmy.world 10 months ago
To play the devil’s advocate: early cars needed a guy with a flag im front of them because people were used to horses and carriages and not automobiles. After a while that stopped being a thing.
But yeah, self driving cars are not really ready.
Junkers_Klunker@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Id argue that motorized carriages back then werent ready for the public.
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I havent seen a lvl 3 yet, have you? Id like to know your actual thoughts on driving one. I only see Teslas and such, and they don’t have them yet.
Kbobabob@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Lol, this is like calling the turn signals warning lights. Letting others know something about your driving isn’t a warning, it’s just an indicator.
Kage520@lemmy.world 10 months ago
If we need signs saying student driver, the driver is not ready
otp@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
If we need signs saying “Baby on Board”, the driver isn’t ready
kuneho@lemmy.world 10 months ago
if we need warning lights for ANYTHING, the humanity is just not ready.
akafester@lemmy.world 10 months ago
One could argue that brake lights are a warning light 🤔.
sugartits@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Best keep away from rail crossings then.
coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world 10 months ago
So we aren’t ready for anything. Got it. 🚨🚦🚒🚑🚓🚧
bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 10 months ago
Same purpose as warning labels: to keep ding dongs alive so they can spend more money
helenslunch@feddit.nl 10 months ago
The technology will never be ready if you don’t test it.
And I would argue we DON’T need warning lights since, while imperfect, most self-driving tech is already vastly better than your average driver. We should have warning lights for cars that DON’T have self-driving.
This is ultimately why we will NEVER have self-driving cars en masse, because society isn’t willing to take the necessary risks to improve the safety of everyone on the road.
firadin@lemmy.world 10 months ago
How about we:
Why is there this constant false dichotomy implying that the only way to test self driving cars is a wild west of no regulation?
And also who said that self driving cars are safer than humans? Tesla’s numbers are all statistical lies (in fact Teslas were recently shown to have the most accidents), Cruise just shutdown in SF because they were a liability, and Waymo is heavily limited in its time/weather/areas for driving.
Maggoty@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Sure. But we’re jumping into the deep end by legally allowing the driver to be exempt from distracted driving laws. There’s a big difference between testing the technology and relying on the technology.
rottingleaf@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
There are warning signs to indicate people learning to drive in ex-Soviet countries (such yellow triangles to put behind the glass), even though they are driving with an instructor.
Now when I think about it, it’s been some time since I’ve seen that sign.
barsoap@lemm.ee 10 months ago
Somewhat similarly in the Netherlands, in case you fail your practical driving exam three times you still get a license but you can only drive cars marked with special yellow number plates.
lolcatnip@reddthat.com 10 months ago
They’re pretty common in the US as well, but it’s just a sign that says “student driver”.
I’ve also seen orange triangles used in vehicles like horse-drawn carriages that can’t go as fast as regular traffic, mostly in connection to Amish people.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Well, theirs probably isn’t.