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Comment by wjp3 | Hacker News Reader

It'll be interesting to see if anything comes of the issue with the already-collapsed crash barrier and what CalTrans says about it. That sort of thing is there for a reason, and to be left in a crushed state for any period of time is bad.

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In Texas, I've seen crushed barriers remain collapsed for weeks on end. Either that or they are just hit again right after being replaced. Which tells me, it's a poorly designed road and causes confusion for drivers. Which in fact may be what this Tesla crash turns out to be.

Exactly, I drive past this barrier every day...the problem is the left two lanes on 101 are carpool/EV lane so Tesla drivers just zoom down it...at this particular exit, the left carpool lane leads to an HOV flyover exit which puts you on 85. If you are not paying attention (ie on autopilot flying past traffic), you will end up on a completely different highway! I see people very frequently swerve out of the flyover lane back on to 101 very often, so my initial thought was that he tried to disengage too late to either get back on 101 or the catch the flyover (not clear which one).

photo, I think https://imgur.com/a/iMY1x (copied from elsewhere on this thread)

He lived in Foster City and was working at Apple, so it's likely he wanted to take the 85 ramp to Cupertino.

I've seen something that said that the car was warning him to take control, but he hadn't done so. Texting, maybe?

Before this rumour spreads: the latest Tesla statement [1] is worded in a deliberately misleading fashion and the only thing we can tell from it is that his hands were according to the software not on the wheel for 6s before the impact.

>The driver had received several visual and one audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive and the driver’s hands were not detected on the wheel for six seconds prior to the collision

Note the and.

[1] https://www.tesla.com/blog/update-last-week’s-accident

Will you end up on 85 or will autopilot figure out at the last minute that you need to change lanes and do so?

But unfortunately the real world is full of poorly designed, under-maintained roads driven on by drivers who are looking at their phones or have mechanical issues without warning. If the self-driving cars can't handle it, then they shouldn't be on the roads. The roads will never be perfect.

i didn't understand that part of the article. Does the road have a crumple zone in it, and it was already consumed in a previous incident, and then in this incident the car collided with the already-crumpled zone?

That is correct.

I wonder how fast they replace crushed barriers.

The crash was at the 101 and 85 flyover for the carpool lane. Next to that lane there is a sign warning of upcoming construction closures... in fall 2017. Does that answer your question?

Yeah, what's up with that? There's a sign you pass getting on 101 North from Oregon Expy that says that the ramp is going to be closed on some particular day in 2015.

It sounds like CalTrans had a lot of tolerance for shoddy work.

I would hope that removing a outdated construction sign is lower priority than replacing a spent crash barrier.

It’s broken windows. If they can’t take down a simple sign three years later, how long does it take to reset a barrier that takes actual work?

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