Update: hijacking my own comment to say that the HN mods have nerfed this story submission into the ground: https://hnrankings.info/40782552/
I had a 1980's car in which the ECU had a sense line to the brake light circuit, and if the brakes were applied, engine power was instantly, and dramatically, cut.
Every drive-by-wire-throttle car I've ever driven - and DBWT cars have been around since the late nineties, do the same thing - press the brake, the ECU goes to idle immediately - sometimes in sports cars it's after a few seconds. There is zero reason for this pavement queen to be set up to permit left-foot-braking under throttle, especially when it is so heavy and powerful.
The federal government and EU regulators need to find some balls, fast, and reign in Musk. Every single idea he's had to "revolutionize" cars - beyond going electric, not really his 'idea' - has been asinine. In some cases he's pioneered Stupid and the auto industry shrugged and followed right along because regulators let him:
* going backwards at least twenty years in pedestrian crash safety by making a flat-nosed vehicle whose body panels can deflect a sledgehammer blow, instead of crumpling when hit by a person's body
* self-driving and lane-keeping cruise control with no radar has caused numerous crashes (thanks to "phantom braking" when the car freaks out and thinks something is in the road) and when the car doesn't see something because of dirt, sunlight, or water on the cameras - has killed dozens (by low estimate) of people...both occupants, law enforcement, and the public and that's just the well-publicized cases. I'm betting the actual numbers are more like thousands. Dual camera systems simply are not sufficient because even the very best pro photo digital cameras are still worse than the human eye in resolution and dynamic range.
* yolk steering wheels, though at least they kinda sorta addressed that with the variable ratio steering in the CT. There is an astounding lack of hubris to look at a fucking steering wheel and say "I can do better!" - especially when "better" has been tried before at various times and was a miserable failures. Musk looked at F1/Indy and said to himself "SEE? BETTER!" and forgot that those are being used by people who are at the absolute pinnacle of driving skill and rarely have to do anything approaching a sharp turn.
* no indicator stalks...putting the most commonly used control on the car is now a moving target and can have any rotation
* vehicle controls on a screen that depending on the Tesla model, anything on the road is impossible to see while you're looking at the control, which you have to do because there are no physical controls or even haptics.
Did I leave anything out?
In short:
- No self/autonomous vehicle tech without radar and some sort of LIDAR to supplement cameras
- No steering yolks
- Sheet metal must crumple appropriately in a collision with another car or a pedestrian
- Indicator stalks required
- Speed and basic indicators must be in front of the driver. Want to do it via a HUD? Fine.
I had a 1980's car in which the ECU had a sense line to the brake light circuit, and if the brakes were applied, engine power was instantly, and dramatically, cut.
Every drive-by-wire-throttle car I've ever driven - and DBWT cars have been around since the late nineties, do the same thing - press the brake, the ECU goes to idle immediately - sometimes in sports cars it's after a few seconds. There is zero reason for this pavement queen to be set up to permit left-foot-braking under throttle, especially when it is so heavy and powerful.
The federal government and EU regulators need to find some balls, fast, and reign in Musk. Every single idea he's had to "revolutionize" cars - beyond going electric, not really his 'idea' - has been asinine. In some cases he's pioneered Stupid and the auto industry shrugged and followed right along because regulators let him:
* going backwards at least twenty years in pedestrian crash safety by making a flat-nosed vehicle whose body panels can deflect a sledgehammer blow, instead of crumpling when hit by a person's body
* self-driving and lane-keeping cruise control with no radar has caused numerous crashes (thanks to "phantom braking" when the car freaks out and thinks something is in the road) and when the car doesn't see something because of dirt, sunlight, or water on the cameras - has killed dozens (by low estimate) of people...both occupants, law enforcement, and the public and that's just the well-publicized cases. I'm betting the actual numbers are more like thousands. Dual camera systems simply are not sufficient because even the very best pro photo digital cameras are still worse than the human eye in resolution and dynamic range.
* yolk steering wheels, though at least they kinda sorta addressed that with the variable ratio steering in the CT. There is an astounding lack of hubris to look at a fucking steering wheel and say "I can do better!" - especially when "better" has been tried before at various times and was a miserable failures. Musk looked at F1/Indy and said to himself "SEE? BETTER!" and forgot that those are being used by people who are at the absolute pinnacle of driving skill and rarely have to do anything approaching a sharp turn.
* no indicator stalks...putting the most commonly used control on the car is now a moving target and can have any rotation
* vehicle controls on a screen that depending on the Tesla model, anything on the road is impossible to see while you're looking at the control, which you have to do because there are no physical controls or even haptics.
Did I leave anything out?
In short:
- No self/autonomous vehicle tech without radar and some sort of LIDAR to supplement cameras - No steering yolks - Sheet metal must crumple appropriately in a collision with another car or a pedestrian - Indicator stalks required - Speed and basic indicators must be in front of the driver. Want to do it via a HUD? Fine.