[forgottenpass]

I'm a little bit confused about why there's such a negative reaction to this on HN - it seems like a pretty reasonable statement to make, no?

"Too dangerous" is sophistry that is rightly derided when used for unquantified fear-mongering elsewhere and this is barely different.

I can't wait for the future where I don't have to drive, and safer is an attractive selling point too. But there is a level of risk associated with road travel, a level society has largely deemed acceptable (otherwise speed limits would be lower). Musk putting this in his cross-hairs is a disappointing choice of sales tactic.

[matthewmacleod]

I don't think I agree with this.

Road traffic accidents are something like the 10th most common cause of death worldwide. It's clearly a rather dangerous activity.

The idea that we have 'deemed acceptable' the risk involved is only the case where the risk cannot be lowered without compromising other goals (e.g. fast travel).

In a hypothetical future where autonomous cars are widespread and much safer, the tradeoff changes – it suddenly becomes possible to have both fast and safe travel, with the proviso that humans can't be in change cars.

I'm not going to argue that this is a good thing, because I don't know. But it's not fair to say that it's fear-mongering – it's objectively true that cars kill loads of people, and quite possible that non-autonomous vehicles will be banned or at least heavily regulated in the future.

[closetnerd]

> Road traffic accidents are something like the 10th most common cause of death worldwide. It's clearly a rather dangerous activity.

I just want to note here that if you look at the same statistics in countries that have implemented better driver training programs, its clear that there is still leaps and bounds of efforts we can take to address the concerns of safety without outlawing the practice completely.

[manicdee]

Lower speed limits will not reduce the number of deaths, unless all traffic is reduced to 40km/h or less.

Inattentive drivers, confusing road signage, insufficient separation of pedestrians and cars, drivers not following established rules and guidelines: these are the contributing factors which can be addressed to reduce road fatalities with greater reduction of fatalities than simply reducing speed limits.

Autonomous cars won't speed for thrills, they won't cut lanes or run red lights. They will be far safer, if more annoying, than most drivers: just like the more conservative human drivers we already have.