
Safety features that would make vehicles far less lethal to pedestrians exist - jseliger
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-08-12/why-are-cars-still-so-dangerous-to-pedestrians
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ironmagma
Even as someone avid about automotive safety, there is no way I could trust an
automated system that’s in charge of doing something like inhibiting a trigger
discharge, actuating the car brakes, controlling steering, etc. It’s extremely
damaging in the case where there is a bug, for instance consider what happens
if you’re on the highway in front of a 16 wheeler and the brakes slam
themselves on.

This is all about reduction of complexity. Humans like having things simple
and understandable; things like cars have already grown to stretch the limits
of what we can represent with a mental model. There are still times when my
car does something that makes me think, “man, how many lines of code are
running in this thing?” or, to formulate it another way, “oh, this car really
is magic after all.” And it’s a 2012 Focus, not even a newer or particularly
featureful car. That’s not a healthy situation for an item that is life vs.
death.

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Gibbon1
Big problem with new cars is the airbag in the A Pillar creates a blind spot
that hides pedestrians. That said the safest car is one that isn't driven.
Meaning better public transportation is a better solution.

