Zac & Jesse do FSD

[FutureBoy]

OK, I've watched some FSD test videos. Not that many because while I like seeing various scenarios, there generally isn't as much entertainment value.

So here I am watching Zac & Jesse. They finally got FSD and are taking their first test drive. I am really enjoying watching their experience. Back in the 80's I lived in MA so I also have a bit of experience with the MA drivers and horrible road infrastructure. But overall, I'm really liking their scenarios and how they talk about the experience.

Interestingly, as I am watching YouTube is inundating me with ads for Woojer to make my experience even more realistic. I'm already feeling the stress from the FSD video. Not sure I need that much reality.

Oh, and I really like the added commentary about the reactions of other drivers.

 

[Crissa]

Those roads... And people wonder why insurance costs so much up there!

This is a much calmer interaction:



-Crissa

 

[Sirfun]

Those roads... And people wonder why insurance costs so much up there!

This is a much calmer interaction:


-Crissa

Fricken AWESOME! A good friend of mine is one of the photographers for Killboy. I've never been there, but it's always been on my list of great drives!

Edit: I sent a message to the photographer friend and he was NOT impressed. Here's what he wrote to me. It show's just how dangerous that road is.


"Risking my life.." The hell he says! He is risking other peoples lives! There isnt even cell phone service on the Dragon. Emergency responders are notified via a process that is 50% word of mouth for God's sake. What a tool.

 

[Crissa]

So your photographer friend thinks the road should be closed, I'm guessing?

It doesn't look anything special to me, looks like the road I drive every day.




Also try 49 minutes in.

Took this on Saturday to do my errands over the hill (it's shorter). Came around a corner to find the whole little valley frozen. Haha.




And took this home, in the dark, on my motorcycle (37 miles, mostly freeway, in the cold, used 84% of my battery capacity):




17 used to be the most dangerous highway in California, but most of the left turn lanes have been eliminated with barriers. https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/5237-california-state-route-17.html The lanes are still very narrow, and drivers have been very... bad of late.

-Crissa

 

[Sirfun]

So your photographer friend thinks the road should be closed, I'm guessing?

It doesn't look anything special to me, looks like the road I drive every day.




Also try 49 minutes in.

Took this on Saturday to do my errands over the hill (it's shorter). Came around a corner to find the whole little valley frozen. Haha.




And took this home, in the dark, on my motorcycle (37 miles, mostly freeway, in the cold, used 84% of my battery capacity):




17 used to be the most dangerous highway in California, but most of the left turn lanes have been eliminated with barriers. https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/5237-california-state-route-17.html The lanes are still very narrow, and drivers have been very... bad of late.

-Crissa

My friend has no issue with the road. His comments were against trusting FSD on that road. And feeling like the poster had endangered others by doing that.
I agree with you, Hwy. 17 is a tough drive, I drove it a few months back in our Ford E250 van. The speeds and turns with traffic and barriers definitely get your attention!

 

[Crissa]

Trusting FSD/Autopilot is easier than trusting a human: You can grab the steering wheel 'cause your hands have to be on it. FSD is really pushing the driver attentiveness stuff now.

-Crissa

 

[Sirfun]

Trusting FSD/Autopilot is easier than trusting a human: You can grab the steering wheel 'cause your hands have to be on it. FSD is really pushing the driver attentiveness stuff now.

-Crissa

Oh yeah, I tried to explain to him that the driver has his hands on the wheel and could take over all the controls of the car instantly. Way safer than when I was teaching my teenager how to drive from the passenger seat with no controls other than my voice.

My friend then called me a fanboy.

 

[John K]

My friend has no issue with the road. His comments were against trusting FSD on that road. And feeling like the poster had endangered others by doing that.
I agree with you, Hwy. 17 is a tough drive, I drove it a few months back in our Ford E250 van. The speeds and turns with traffic and barriers definitely get your attention!

FSD would be safer on the road since the lines are well defined. Other drivers enjoying the curves crossing lines is outside of FSDs expectations And poses the risk.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

OK, I've watched some FSD test videos. Not that many because while I like seeing various scenarios, there generally isn't as much entertainment value.

So here I am watching Zac & Jesse. They finally got FSD and are taking their first test drive. I am really enjoying watching their experience. Back in the 80's I lived in MA so I also have a bit of experience with the MA drivers and horrible road infrastructure. But overall, I'm really liking their scenarios and how they talk about the experience.

Interestingly, as I am watching YouTube is inundating me with ads for Woojer to make my experience even more realistic. I'm already feeling the stress from the FSD video. Not sure I need that much reality.

Oh, and I really like the added commentary about the reactions of other drivers.

Sadly they made a BIG deal about how their scores were low driving, by their own description, like grandmothers, and how to game the scoring so that they could get their numbers up high enough to get the beta. I liked their video but I have a sour taste in my mouth for people that game anything. I say play by the spirit of the system or change the system. I also think it is telling that, on their very first drive using FSD, they gave it really difficult scenarios. A reasonable person would go slowly and learn, piecewise, what FSD can do reliably, what it cannot, and how to deal with it. Zach made comments about how easy Dirty Tesla makes driving with FSD seem, but Chris has been doing this for a year and has followed a progressive testing strategy. I think I'd have been more satisfied had they been more patient.

 

[Crissa]

FSD would be safer on the road since the lines are well defined. Other drivers enjoying the curves crossing lines is outside of FSDs expectations And poses the risk.

And outside anyone else's expectations, too. So the robot who never takes its eyes off the road and always knows if something is going to cross its path would be safer.

-Crissa

 

[SparkChaser]

I test drove the Model 3 with this and I grew really fatigued by holding my hands just above the wheel. I understand why this is how it works but for me, it was not as comforting a system. I was on San Francisco city streets so it is very congested with lots of pedestrians and road changes and cones. I am sure it goes along just fine on the hiway.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

I test drove the Model 3 with this and I grew really fatigued by holding my hands just above the wheel. I understand why this is how it works but for me, it was not as comforting a system. I was on San Francisco city streets so it is very congested with lots of pedestrians and road changes and cones. I am sure it goes along just fine on the hiway.

Actually, it took me a long time to take my hands away from the top of the wheel on AAP. It takes a lot of trust that drivers have a hard time relinquishing. At least, I did. Eventually I found a more comfortable position at the bottom of the wheel, but if you have to take over it is harder. I can only imagine what FSD would be like, let alone downtown (SF) which I never like driving in.

 

[FutureBoy]

Actually, it took me a long time to take my hands away from the top of the wheel on AAP. It takes a lot of trust that drivers have a hard time relinquishing. At least, I did. Eventually I found a more comfortable position at the bottom of the wheel, but if you have to take over it is harder. I can only imagine what FSD would be like, let alone downtown (SF) which I never like driving in.

I think this is going to be one of the difficulties of the migration from a world of human drivers to a world of robot drivers. First, it will take a while for human drivers that want to use FSD to trust it enough to feel comfortable letting it drive. But it will also take time for human drivers in other cars to get used to there being a bunch of AI drivers out and about that behave in more predictable (if not boring) ways than what the humans are willing to tolerate if they are following/driving next to/etc. It will be during this mixed period where most of the danger will actually be. When FSD will still be improving and learning about human responses, and humans will be road raging about the FSD drivers. In time though, the number of human drivers will diminish quite a bit, and then FSD will have a much easier time because the unpredictability of human drivers will become less and less of an issue.

Out in the suburbs and in areas of more docile drivers, the transition might not be so bad. But in areas like New York City, Massachusetts, the Bay Area of CA, and pretty much anywhere that driving disputes have a high propensity of being settled with a gun, it is going to be quite a war between the human and robot drivers for a while.

Everyone stay safe out there!

 

[Crissa]

I test drove the Model 3 with this and I grew really fatigued by holding my hands just above the wheel. I understand why this is how it works but for me, it was not as comforting a system. I was on San Francisco city streets so it is very congested with lots of pedestrians and road changes and cones. I am sure it goes along just fine on the hiway.

You need to hold the bottom of the wheel.

As pointed out elsewhere, with the advent of airbags, 9-3 and 8-4 are considered the proper resting points.

-Crissa

 

[SparkChaser]

I

You need to hold the bottom of the wheel.

As pointed out elsewhere, with the advent of airbags, 9-3 and 8-4 are considered the proper resting points.

-Crissa

I t was not just the placement on the wheel but the uncertainty of being ready to intervein and lack of familiarity. I'm sure with a little more time and certainly not doing it in San Francisco traffic and streets it will come more naturally.