> those instinctual "decide which way to swerve in a split-second" scenarios that come up maybe once every 10-20 years
The correct answer is almost always to hit the brakes. Not to swerve. And Waymo will hit the brakes earlier than you or me.
The correct answer is almost always to hit the brakes. Not to swerve. And Waymo will hit the brakes earlier than you or me.
Hard to say for certain, but it looks like just braking probably wouldn't have avoided the collision.
If it’s 1989 and you don’t have ABS, yes. Otherwise, swerving is a gamble [1]. If you don’t have time to stop, you physically don’t have time to evaluate and choose a right or left swerve. You’re trading the certainty of a head-on collision with whatever is in front of you against the uncertainty of what’s to the right or left, compounded with all the fun that comes with a side/tumbling collision and increased risk of not hitting a car.
[1] https://peterhancock.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/201...
do you also maintain a long following distance when there's a car right next to you in the next lane? I try to, because I don't want to stay in someone's blind spot, but sometimes it's not really possible to fall back.
You're safer hitting them head on while aggressively braking than attempting a microsecond swerve.
Perhaps you mean the far more common scenario when the car in the next lane simply decides to merge into yours? Nothing about that is random[1] and the response in 90%+ of cases is just to let off the gas for a few seconds. That's it.
[1]: In most cases, it's because your lane is open and theirs is about to be backed up. You'd want to switch lanes too, so it really shouldn't be surprising they do.
The rest are mostly people realizing at the last second they want to turn right/left at an upcoming intersection (or highway exit). Again, predictable.
FFS, this is like selection bias 101.
Here's a classic example with an explanation: https://youtu.be/kTczmnkz824?t=882. No experienced driver should be surprised here.
Exactly, this is the situation I am mostly talking about.
> I agree though that most people's extinct would be to brake. Mine never has been though.
...
You operate a motorized vehicle and your first instinct when seeing anything dangerous ahead is to do something other than braking?
Also, shifting into neutral is really only a thing for old vehicles without ABS/ESC. In modern vehicles, you let your foot off the gas slowly.
This is only true with 2WD and no automatic stability control, and if you’re going down a slope. For every other case, ABs will out perform in snow and gentle braking will evenly distribute traction force with stability control doing microsecond evaluations.
Stability control is tied to power in all modern systems.
As someone who grew up BEFORE ABS, drove in the winter (in Canada), including first winter owning my own car with sport tires because I couldn't afford winter tires, spun / slid a few times even with top-of-the-line winter tires, etc.
ABS is a game changer in the snow. I used to go to an empty parking lot every winter during early snowfalls to play around and skid, start/stop, etc. Even EARLY ABS ('94 VW) means that 98% of the time (IMHO), the answer even in snow/ice is "slam on the brakes". Sure, you might have a few percent longer stopping distance than an expert who can do threshold braking - are you an expert? And the fact that you don't lose control of the steering is a huge advantage.
(You also only get into this scenario when your stopping distance is shorter than your reaction time and perception length. Something automated drivers can manage better than humans.)