Hacker News Reader

Comment by PopeDotNinja | Hacker News Reader

Honestly if I’d been given the job of babysitting a self driving car, the same thing could have easily happened to me. I’d get bored out of my mind and unintentionally pull out my phone & start browsing Reddit before I caught myself. It’s a shit, soul sucking job to actively do nothing.

View on HN

Let's say you were working as a lifeguard at a swimming pool. Would you also unintentionally pull out your phone after a couple of hours?

If you did and someone drowned in the mean while, there would be no debate about who was liable.

Through, lifeguards at a swimming pool in are typically not expected to be attentive for hours. They rotate and switch.

Even if they’re not, you wouldn’t allow them watching a video on their phone

And they're not allowed, and (as other commenters say elsewhere in the thread) there's another person on the floor whose job is to ensure lifeguards' attention doesn't drift off. That's how you design safe systems: defense in depth.

That's the difference between a system designed to keep people alive and a system designed to do the least possible work to avoid liability.

I know that cars is the most probable cause of sudden death/injury so I wouldn't do that. How can you 'unintentionally' pull out a phone?

I'd probably be looking at the road all the time, but just freeze at that moment where I'd need to take over.

> How can you 'unintentionally' pull out a phone?

Probably more like "absent mindedly" pull out a phone.

Absent mindedly is closer. Whatever you call reaching for something out of habit with thinking about it.

Habitually

You can listen to audiobooks -- if your job is to be a backup driver keep your eyes on the road.

But you did not work there. There are people who would very easily do this job. If she knew she couldn't concentrate, she shouldn't have taken the job and the risks involved.

Employees taking jobs they're unqualified for is a known problem. Reasons might include ignorance, hubris, financial need, greed. Employers need oversight systems to ensure employees are performing their jobs adequately, especially in safety critical roles.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com