There Auto Be A Law
Podcast Archive
Our podcast discusses auto safety issues and technological developments, in hopes of providing consumers and enthusiasts with a better understanding of modern vehicles, safety systems, and current issues in the industry.
Part 1 with Philip Koopman and William H. Widen
This is the first of a two-part episode with Philip Koopman, Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and William H. Widen, Professor at University of Miami School of Law. The the two have been providing testimony to state legislatures about the safety of autonomous vehicles and authoring a bunch of articles. In this episode they…
Self Driving Cars Explained
In this episode guests Dr. Jeff Wishart and Phil Koopman explain the history of autonomous vehicles, why safety is really really hard, that human drivers are not bad and that it is pure speculation if a self driving car will ever be safer than a human.
Do neural networks get distracted?
No idea and we don’t directly address that question. Instead we discuss how you’ll never know what goes on inside the “mind” of the AI. Plus GM Cruise releases a report that says they failed because they think they are better than regulations and regulators, distracted driving is on the rise. elderly drivers consider signing…
Speed thrills and speed kills
Over a quarter or all motor vehicle deaths are due to excessive speed. Why are we in such a rush and where are we going? No idea. This week we dig into Intelligent Speed Assist and ponder the question if it’s the consumer preventing solutions or the auto makers? If regulators got involved then we…
A smorgasbord of safety
You try to come up with clever titles each week. Sometime they work and sometime they are a, “smorgasbord of safety”. We discuss some extra CES goodies, thermal cameras, AEB, driving simulators for teens and rats. Fred discusses a recent Microsoft paper(pr?) on using AI to find better battery chemistry. This weeks links: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/01/bmw-adds-a-human-touch-to-driverless-phttps://spectrum.ieee.org/flow-battery-2666672335arking-at-ces-2024/ https://jalopnik.com/mercedes-says-not-to-use-the-g-class-evs-tank-turn-on-p-1851156326…
The Auto Safety take on CES
The Consumer Electronics Show delights us with the absurd, the dangerous and the potentially good. IIHS shows damage from crash tests at higher speeds and school buses might go the EV route. Plus Fred explains simulations. This weeks links: https://www.autoblog.com/2024/01/09/mercedes-amgs-mbux-sound-drive-and-will-i-am-let-you-compose-a-song-by-driving/ https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/9/24031529/luminar-lidar-mercedes-amg-f1-safety-car-automatic-steering https://www.autoblog.com/2024/01/09/goodyear-shows-off-new-greener-but-longer-lasting-ev-tires-at-ces-2024/ https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/bmw-turns-inward-for-ces-announcing-new-gaming-streaming-ar-and-ai-features/ar-AA1mDMks https://www.autoevolution.com/news/ces-2024-volkswagen-integrates-chatgpt-into-its-cars-227320.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/imagry-unveils-safe-driver-overwatch-155000823.html https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/08/ces-2024-bosch-eye-tracking-espresso-poi/ https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/automakers-are-pushing-connected-cars-not-every-driver-wants-one/ar-AA1mD24G https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/01/08/biden-clean-school-buses/ https://jalopnik.com/going-fast-is-fun-but-watch-what-happens-when-it-all-g-1851153034 https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2023/RCLRPT-23V905-3533.PDF
The decline of Tesla? And Happy New Year
Hey Listeners, This week we join the fray and pile on Tesla. The Washington Post, Consumer Reports and even Tech Crunch point out how Tesla’s autopilot and full self driving is pricey garbage. Plus Fred does a deep dive into his New Years Resolution for the automotive industry. This weeks links: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/31/tesla-autopilot-recall-test/?itid=ap_geoffreya.fowler https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/29/opinions/tesla-autopilot-recall-safety-wallace?cid=ios_app https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/28/how-tesla-bmw-ford-gm-and-mercedes-driver-assist-systems-compare/ https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/122723teslasafetyflawsletter.pdf…
Is Waymo better than a human?
It’s the end of the year. Drive safe and is Waymo safer than a human? Probably not but thanks for sharing the data. Tesla has another recall and continues to blame it’s customers when their car breaks. The Blazer EV might be a lemon, Fred dives further into the ARC airbag problem and we discuss…
Inactionable corporate puffery
Tesla dominates the auto safety world this week and on this podcast that is a bad thing. First Tesla recalls almost every car they’ve ever produced. Then their lawyers cause the Tesla flock to cry by admitting that AutoPilot and Full Self Driving are nothing more than corporate puffery (at $12,000 that’s gotta hurt) and…