from Hacker News

Fatal Accident: How Is BMW Misleading Us with Autonomous Driving?

by Zhenya on 8/17/22, 6:26 PM with 28 comments

  • by boole1854 on 8/17/22, 7:44 PM

    I don't understand the argument the author is trying to make. The vehicle in question is not an autonomous vehicle, but rather a data collection vehicle that is collecting data about road conditions, environment, etc. in order to make use of that data as part of BMW's autonomous vehicle project. All of this is explained at the URL that is literally written on the vehicle: http://www.bmw.com/autonomousdriving

    The author acknowledges having read that information, yet for some reason concludes that BWM is deliberately trying to mislead the public. The reason for that leap of logic is not obvious to me.

  • by rogerb on 8/17/22, 7:56 PM

    Slightly off topic: I am the owner of a Tesla, and until recently a 2021 model 5 series BMW. The 5 series had 'keep your lane' and 'follow' functionality, and I've been absolutely flabbergasted that this functionality made it on production vehicles. It would give up in the middle of basic turns in the road in such a way that it tried to turn you straight into the divider. It was comically bad, except that it wasn't funny.

    The Tesla (not a fanboy btw) is miles ahead in this regard.

  • by happyopossum on 8/17/22, 7:43 PM

    Article comes across as super paranoid, and really attributes the worst possible conspiracy-theory level motives to a seemingly innocuous situation.

  • by jeffreygoesto on 8/17/22, 6:58 PM

    Calling bs on this article. It is normal that cars like that one can be used by the developers even off-hours. Typically you have to write a short test report after the weekend and ingest the recorded drives. That extends the spread of tested scenarios.

    The car is not equipped for higher automation levels, which require a much bigger sensor set. You'd be able to see them. It has a bog standard assistance set.

    The friggin' stickers are for GDPR reasons and they just designed a single sticker that is used all over the test fleet. The claim "automated" is the same hybris all over the industry, managers trying to compete on claims. It does say nothimg about the capabilities of BMW in the field.

  • by jessaustin on 8/17/22, 7:32 PM

  • by VirusNewbie on 8/17/22, 7:23 PM

    What I'm curious to know is how BMW's L2 compares to Tesla's Autopilot (L2). I'm surprised there aren't more youtube videos of showing if it can maintain lanes properly. Did the BMW autosteer into the oncoming traffic or was it driver error?

  • by yrgulation on 8/17/22, 7:28 PM

    Just like with dieselgate this will be a closely guarded secret. Most likely the eu will create some very friendly regulation, and once it becomes an issue they will blame on east europeans somehow - there’s always a way in the eu for that.