Highway merging rant
I guess I’ll never stop being amazed how most people merge onto highways from on-ramps. It practically never fails – here I am almost exclusively in the right hand lane, where I’m legally supposed to...
Forum Discussion
The computer-driven automobile is in the early experimental stage. I don't expect to see it anytime soon. At this this time, commercial airliners can be flown by computer and even landed by computer. BUT, airline pilots have to be ready to take control when something goes wrong. Future drivers will have to do the same. The worry will be that drivers fail to maintain enough competence to take over in an emergency.
Example: a few years ago there was an Air France flight from South America to Paris that was lost over the Atlantic. Analysis of the accident concluded that the computer dropped out when the air-speed sensors failed. The pilots focused on trying to restart their computer instead of flying the plane, which stalled and crashed into the ocean. (The correct action to avoid the stall was to pull the nose up by 15 degree and reduce engine power to 80% to let the plane drop to thicker air.)
Example: a few years ago there was an Air France flight from South America to Paris that was lost over the Atlantic. Analysis of the accident concluded that the computer dropped out when the air-speed sensors failed. The pilots focused on trying to restart their computer instead of flying the plane, which stalled and crashed into the ocean. (The correct action to avoid the stall was to pull the nose up by 15 degree and reduce engine power to 80% to let the plane drop to thicker air.)
