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That's true. I think of turning right at a crosswalk where some pedestrian is really anxious for their turn to walk, so they're standing right on the edge of the curb. I always pay careful attention to them and rely on my human intuition of body language, eye contact, etc, until I feel comfortable that they're going to remain on the edge of the curb instead of steeping out in front of me during my turn. A robot can't do this.



A robot should have much faster reflexes than you do. Robots should be able to compensate for people actively running or diving in front of them. The situation you describe should be very easy to compensate for.

Don't bother relying on body language or eye contact, just automatically sense the person shaped object, if it is close to the roadway, slow to a speed where you can avoid easily if they step out. Assume that they will. Heck, add in a buffer so you don't bother the passengers of the car by having to slam on the brakes.



A robot should always assume the person might suddenly enter the street regardless of body language or other clues and drive at speeds that allow safe stopping if that occurs.

A person driving should do the same.

I don't see the discrepancy.


> A robot should always assume the person might suddenly enter the street regardless of body language or other clues and drive at speeds that allow safe stopping if that occurs.

> A person driving should do the same.

At what range? If you assume someone could always jump out in front of you, and that running them down will always be unacceptable, you'll be doing a handful of miles an hour whenever there are humans around. In practice I doubt too many people are in favour of taking safety to that extreme.


The discrepancy is there are ~millions of years of evolution to account for our ability to immediately process and react to unexpected actions around us - whereas self driving cars, doubtlessly, will not be debuted to the public with nearly as much complexity - humans are not designed with affordability and profit in mind. Theoretically, what you're saying is correct, but the practical reality is likely to be a lot different. The best possible implementation isn't likely to be the one which hits the mass market.


Arguably the pedestrian should be comfortable to cross and expect you to wait for them. You could trust a robot to respect the pedestrians rights and not get angry.


In the context of driving in the UK - that's not how it works. People will cross at red light right after you pass, and will impatiently wait at the edge of the road, leaning forwards, ready to go. This doesn't have anything to do with respecting the pedestrians rights.


If you turn into a junction and a pedestrian is already crossing you are required to wait. It will be interesting to see how pedestrians change as a result of this. I would be much less likely to wait for cars if I know for certain that they will let me cross safely. It may make urban areas more pleasent if cars are consistantly safe.




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