US to probe Texas fatal crash that may have involved Ford partially automated driving system

[Mach1E]

the driver said he was using blue cruise, so I’m sure ford will look to protect their product. The government or the family of the deceased would also be interested in the posters comments as they implicate fords product.

In regards to maintaining the information, the forums database tracks changes. Unless they’re actively logging out changes after days (highly unlikely), that data is being preserved already. I would also assume the forums are backed up on some manner, which can be compelled during discovery.

They may be interested, but I’m still guessing it’s irrelevant.

Stopped car in middle lane of highway with lights off pretty much lets everyone else off the hook as far as liability goes. No reasonable driver nor crash avoidance software should be held liable.

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[milepost1]

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/b...sh-ford-automated-driving-system/72999511007/

Just wondering would it be worse if human totally driving? Wait they could have stepped in brake. Why everytine a "self driving" car crashes major new and total failure. Self driving is great as everyone follows the rules. Parking in middle of freeway at night with no lights, I don't think is approved driving behavior.

 

[metfoo]

They may be interested, but I’m still guessing it’s irrelevant.

Stopped car in middle lane of highway with lights off pretty much lets everyone else off the hook as far as liability goes. No reasonable driver nor crash avoidance software should be held liable.

While true, that won’t stop the lawyers and the press. This is likely to only grow in the headlines until settles. The press wants the headlines for clicks, and the ambulance chasers will look to drag ford name through the mud.

 

[ThatGuyLando]

Just wondering would it be worse if human totally driving? Wait they could have stepped in brake. Why everytine a "self driving" car crashes major new and total failure. Self driving is great as everyone follows the rules. Parking in middle of freeway at night with no lights, I don't think is approved driving behavior.

Sadly, another old human driving into a human story won't get as many clicks. But if new tech is involved then people will read/look into it. They don't give a crap about safety, it's about making money off ads and views.

 

[Mach1E]

Sadly, another old human driving into a human story won't get as many clicks. But if new tech is involved then people will read/look into it. They don't give a crap about safety, it's about making money off ads and views.

For sure.

Especially since people don’t understand that Bluecruise is just cruise control plus lane keeping plus a monitor to make sure you’re paying attention.

None of those things are designed to avoid a stopped car at 70 mph. I would also argue they shouldn’t be designed for that rare use case.

Why not? Because I don’t want my car panic stopping from 70 mph because it thinks it sees a stationary object.

 

[jay1122]

For sure.

Especially since people don’t understand that Bluecruise is just cruise control plus lane keeping plus a monitor to make sure you’re paying attention.

None of those things are designed to avoid a stopped car at 70 mph. I would also argue they shouldn’t be designed for that rare use case.

Why not? Because I don’t want my car panic stopping from 70 mph because it thinks it sees a stationary object.

I would not blame blue cruise in this situation. But I have seen video clips of some cars did automatic emergency maneuvering on to adjacent side lanes to avoid stationed cars in front. Ford's system does not have that ability.

 

[Just Lurking]

While true, that won’t stop the lawyers and the press. This is likely to only grow in the headlines until settles. The press wants the headlines for clicks, and the ambulance chasers will look to drag ford name through the mud.

Situations like this (even if the Mach-E driver isn't at fault) are reasons to keep high liability coverage (and / or umbrella liability coverage).

 

[nvabill]

Really strange they're on it as it typically needs to be commercial / involve a lot of people. For a 2 vehicle incident that's a little out of the norm. Figure they'd be a little busy chasing down defective boeings right now.

Does seem to be an odd investigation for NTSB and you are sure right about Boeing!

 

[VaporTrails]

I have come up on a car in the dark at 0400 traveling at 45 on the Interstate. The closing speed was very scary and demanded all my attention to avert an issue. I would not want to come up on a car traveling zero. I feel for Houston driver. This doubles down on my comment on the other BC thread about why the car hands control back to you above 80.

 

[averyintucson]

I like to take an additional step of following a larger vehicle at the maximum distance the cruise control will allow before I activate Blue Cruise, usually a bus or truck with a professional driver. That way, I have a professional driver watching the road in front of me. This is about three seconds following distance, and if the truck does make a panic stop, my Mach E can stop shorter than the truck. At three seconds following, I do pick up a barely noticeable drafting effect, too.

 

[Mach1E]

I like to take an additional step of following a larger vehicle at the maximum distance the cruise control will allow before I activate Blue Cruise, usually a bus or truck with a professional driver. That way, I have a professional driver watching the road in front of me. This is about three seconds following distance, and if the truck does make a panic stop, my Mach E can stop shorter than the truck. At three seconds following, I do pick up a barely noticeable drafting effect, too.

Interesting. I try to avoid following large vehicles because the only thing I seem to pick up are the rocks they fling at my windshield.

 

[thekat03]

I am glad this case is being investigated by NHTSA. We hear about a lot of investigations of Tesla's autopilot (and FSD) . If there wasn't an investigation, it would look like bias against Tesla. This seems like an unfortunate accident, but based on comments on the accident posted here, it doesn't sound like it reaches the point of gross negligence (compared to people who drive while intoxicated or distracted).

 

[Logal727]

That's not the MME's fault. This seems like the CRV driver either had a severe medical issue ....or wanted something bad to happen to him. Stopped in the middle lane at night with no lights would be hard for a human to avoid. It's a credit to the MME's safety if the MME's driver walked away

Yeah I would never wanna be rear ended by a MME, every car I’ve seen that’s had this happen has been totaled or in very bad shape. Thing is heavy and built like a tank. Which is a blessing and a downside sometimes.

 

[Dustus]

I found several articles like this that explain how very few if any driver assistance systems will stop for stationary objects at high speeds. That is why you have to keep your eyes on the road.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/0...-sometimes-hit-parked-cars-and-lane-dividers/

 

[BigMach-E]

The Mach-E sometimes doesn’t emergency stop for stationary objects at very slow speed. Blue Cruise is not intended, nor should it be, to detect a stationary object in the middle of the road, in the dark, and stop for that. It steers a bit for the driver, and is pretty good (although not perfect) at slowing to maintain distance from a moving object. It certainly won’t do as good or a better job than an experienced, competent driver with good reaction time who is paying attention at any of the tasks that BC performs. I don’t think the driver would have been able to avoid the accident considering what we know about the situation, why would we expect Blue Cruise to have been able to avoid or mitigate the damage?

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