Hacker News Reader

Comment by joshstrange | Hacker News Reader

I watched a video [0] (that I think I found here, maybe Reddit) months ago about these trucks (a driver did a full “review” of it), it was pretty freaking cool. I started watching it thinking “I’ll only watch a minute or two” and got so engrossed I watched the whole thing.

[0] https://youtu.be/3TFz1xqp3us

View on HN

Doug DeMuro did a rather comprehensive walkthrough as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CWCqJl0BEs

Annoyingly, they didn't fix my main UX gripe with delivery vehicles, which is that they use the same lights for the hazards and turn signals. It's quite common for the right half of a stopped van to be obscured, which makes it impossible to tell the difference between "hazards on, delivering a package" and "left blinker on, about to cut in front of you".

> my main UX gripe with delivery vehicles, which is that they use the same lights for the hazards and turn signals

I don't know this for a fact, but it could very well be mandated by vehicle safety standards regulations. Of course, it wouldn't be very difficult to add extra lights like those you would see on the back of a tow truck or construction vehicle, but again that may be dictated by law.

I believe that extra turn indicators are allowed. Ambulances have a similar issue where they have dozens of lights but clear signaling of turns is important. A common solution is to add yellow arrows [1]. If I were designing a delivery vehicle I would include turn arrows that are not activated by the hazards.

https://www.fedsig.com/sites/default/files/products/Ambu.jpg

This gets into the absurdity of North American turn signal rules/regulations that allow brake lights as turn signals.

A relevant video by Technology Connections talking about said absurdity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1lZ9n2bxWA

This is the EXACT same absurd UX issue for public transit buses making stops. And even more absurd? It's illegal (in Ontario at least) to not yield to the turn signal. The issue is that with an obscured curb-side light, you can't tell when a the road-side light goes from 'stopped' to 're-entering traffic lane'. I have no idea why we can't add additional informational signalling to these special-case vehicles.

I thought it was illegal to drive past stopped busses in most of North America, no matter how carefully you drive or how many lanes are separating you? If it is there and has any kinds of light on, everyone else on the road must simply halt?

That rule is specific to school busses with the red STOP lights flashing, and you’re allowed to pass the other way if there’s a physical divider like a median in the road.

Commuter busses do not have this rule

> "left blinker on, about to cut in front of you".

You can't fix stupid. If the delivery guy is cutting in front of you without looking in their mirror, it's on them. Introducing a new set of lights will further confuse people who aren't delivery drivers and have no idea what those lights mean.

I think a flashing left arrow, à la ambulances, would get the message across.

https://www.fedsig.com/sites/default/files/products/Ambu.jpg

i saw the same video! the thing i was thinking about is, event though Amazon is a huge investor, the specs are so well designed for this kind of work that they could start selling to UPS, USPS, FedEx, etc.

Hey friend! Thanks for the share, super cool watch.

Hope you're doing well :)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com