| So, here's the problem with this whole normal law / alternate law situation: If a pilot believes he is in normal law, and wants to ascend above the storm, he'll probably just pull all the way back on the stick, thinking "this will cause the computer to ascend as quickly as it can without stalling". AAAARGGHH!!!! This maddening concept of normal law is turning the above insanity into the EXPECTED OUTCOME! Having a computer partially ignore your control will always lead to people railing the controls all the way in the direction they want. That's just human nature. This is just like having someone who was raised on cars with traction control drive on ice for the first time. They'll notice the car isnt accelerating as fast as it normally would, and their natural reaction will be to push the gas pedal down EVEN FURTHER! Bingo - your control system just extracted the exact opposite of rational human behavior. If they didn't have traction control, they would have heard the engine rev and the tires spinning, and they would have backed off of the gas. If the pilot weren't under the mistaken impression that the computer would limit his input, he would have NEVER pulled the stick all the way back and held it there - he instead would have been very careful to pull the stick back only just enough to ascend safely. The airline industry may think normal law is a feature. I consider it an abomination You either give the human full control, or cut their control entirely. You DO NOT give them partially limited control. That only encourages exaggerated inputs. |
Most of the later ones (emergency braking, speed control, lane departure) are only on expensvie cars, but within 10 years will be standard equipment on all cars. If not by legislation, probably by insurance companies offering discounts on vehicles so equipped.
It's already an issue with ABS braking in that people run into things even though they could steer around them - simply because they become fixated on pressing the brake harder and harder rather than trying to steer the car away from the impending object.
As people learn to drive with these aids and rely on them, they will become dangerous when one or more become faulty. I can see a point where people start to rely on automatic braking and don't bother putting their foot on the brake. Or take their hands off the wheel on the freeway because the car keeps it in the lane for them.
All this is great until something stops - a camera gets a squashed bug, a wheel sensor breaks from a stone, anything. And the car will be under partial human control and the inputs will be badly exaggerated.
This will become a large issue in the design of vehicle interfaces and driver training in years to come. The solution, of course, is mandatory emergency situation training in an unassisted car. But driver training is routinely ignored worldwide for cost reasons.