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Comment by melling | Hacker News Reader

An opportunity to improve self-driving to be even better than humans, who would likely not have prevented the accident either.

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I always assume that people who say this either don't own cats, bought one from a breeder and raised it indoors from day one, or live in an apartment building where you need to go through multiple doors to get outside.

Most cats that spent some time outdoors will want to be outdoors. In many settings, it's nearly impossible to keep them in because they will try to sneak out every time they get a chance. Package delivery, you coming back with groceries, etc.

And most of the anti-outdoor-cat stats are more or less bullsh-t. The average lifespan of feral cats might be five years. The average lifespan of a cat that has a home but gets to go out is probably pretty close to an indoor cat. And while outdoor cats can kill birds for sport, they're not causing extinction events in most places. They mostly interact with abundant, trash-feeding urban birds. You might not like the killing, but it's an artificial ecosystem we created and that can handle the predation just fine.

Maybe the stats are bullshit and maybe they're not, but I don't care. It's beside the point. Cats want to go outside so you should let them, or don't have them in places where they can't like very dense urban areas. Would you spend your whole life indoors if it gave you another 10 years? I think not. Somehow people who would never accept this for themselves have no problem doing it to their cats.

I just want to point out that you called the outdoor cat stats bullshit, and then proceed to make up "probably true because it feels that way" facts to show that.

Not taking a side, but your argument is...weak.

>>> They pose a major threat to birds, killing an estimated 2.4 billion birds each year in the U.S. alone, making cats the top source of direct, human-caused bird mortality in the U.S.

Is this the stat you have issue with? Or is the contention that a pet on a city street at 11:40 PM is not highly at risk of being run over by a human driver?

https://abcbirds.org/solutions/keep-cats-indoors/

I do own a cat and he runs the neighborhood.

I’ve also known people whose cats got hit by cars. Even driveway accidents.

Is there some reason we don’t want a smarter car that avoids pets and wildlife?

For sure. Cost for example?

Just pointing out the obvious steelman people seem to be missing.

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