this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
229 points (96.7% liked)

Technology

59135 readers
2842 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Drivers Tend To Kill Pedestrians At Night. Thermal Imaging May Help.::Pedestrian automatic emergency braking (AEB), which may become mandatory on U.S. cars in the future, tends to not perform well in the dark.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] TurboHarbinger@feddit.cl 74 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Drivers Tend To Kill Pedestrians At Night. Thermal Imaging May Help.

Yes, I need more incentives to kill pedestrians.

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

LOL yes. Even the first sentence in this headline reads funny on its own.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Phegan@lemmy.world 61 points 11 months ago (16 children)

What if we reduced the size of cars, reduced speed limits and created cities and towns that are safer to walk in

[–] Cort@lemmy.world 26 points 11 months ago

Also, increase public transit options & availability.

[–] ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] isles@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

Yep! America: Of the Cars, By the Cars, For the Cars

[–] Ookami38@sh.itjust.works 7 points 11 months ago

I mean, long term that's a fantastic solution. Pretty sure this change can be implemented a lot sooner and a LOT cheaper, and save lives tho.

load more comments (13 replies)
[–] Kissaki@feddit.de 40 points 11 months ago (4 children)

In IIHS’ latest tests of car headlight systems, fewer than half (43%) earned a good rating. [...] “Vehicles that earn a good rating for visibility in our tests have 23% fewer nighttime pedestrian crashes than those that rate poor.”

That's a lot of room for improvement without new technology.

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 26 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's the kind of thing you assume would have been empirically tested and have minimum safety regulations, instead of the wild variability we see from dimly lit up close to blinding pulsar from alpha centauri.

[–] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 13 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

There is a minimum and regulations, in the US IIRC the legal range is between 500 and 3000 lumens. And it results in exactly what you describe.

[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 5 points 11 months ago

Exactly.

We need to have regs targeting specific performance metrics based on testing.

[–] CmdrShepard@lemmy.one 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Europe actually has incredible adaptive headlight technology that AFAIK was illegal in the US up until very recently. It'll be great to see this rolled out here as it's better for everyone.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 25 points 11 months ago (3 children)

hmm thermal imaging in cars.... or just more public transit and street lighting..... give me the expensive capitalist hellcreating thing

[–] Flyingostrich@endlesstalk.org 9 points 11 months ago (6 children)

That only works in more urban areas.

Its impossible to covered every road in lights and it can get very dark when you are far away from a city. Same with public transit. I am all for it, but it's only reasonable in more densely populated areas. There just won't be enough people using it in th middle of nowhere to just something like that much less staff it.

Meanwhile helping cars see people even in those less common and more difficult situations is a good thing. Why would you NOT want your car to be safer for others around you?

[–] Landsharkgun@midwest.social 6 points 11 months ago

80% of the US population, and about half of the world population, lives in urban areas.

By 2050, those figures will be 90% and 75%, respectively.

Planning better urban areas won't help everyone, but it will help the supermajority.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] JiveTurkey@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Right. I can't wait for the thermal camera on my ridiculously expensive car to break so it can become a lawn ornament until I spend thousands on a new camera.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ichbinjasokreativ@lemmy.world 23 points 11 months ago (7 children)

People could also wear something other than black clothes when they go outside at night.

[–] Ookami38@sh.itjust.works 23 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Dude. For real. The number of jump scares I've had on a dark fuckin back road, and some bastard in all black seemingly materializes in front of me... Same thing with people who drove at dusk without lights on, MAKE YOURSELF VISIBLE

[–] Latuga17@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (7 children)

It is your responsibility as the operator of a car to see pedestrians even if they are wearing black

[–] emptiestplace@lemmy.ml 7 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Sure is, but sometimes our brains don't work perfectly.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] rifugee@lemmy.world 20 points 11 months ago

Drivers Tend To Kill Pedestrians At Night. Thermal Imaging May Help.

Thermal imaging will definitely help spot those dirty walkers so I won't miss as many. Those bastards can blend in sometimes and some of them are deceptively quick. The little ones especially are tough to take out. Of course, sometimes those guys just run right in front of you which are easy points but it takes the sport out of it.

Anyway, it's about time someone put the right tools in the hands of us hunters. I can't wait to have an evening cruise with my lights off and really get a good stalk on, you know?

[–] cogman@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago (6 children)

As a pedestrian, this is why wearing high viz/lighted clothing at night is so important.

[–] SitD@feddit.de 14 points 11 months ago (1 children)

this is gonna be super bad for lizard people 😱

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 13 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

This has been a thing for decades now at least in Mercedes (S & E) and BMW (5+).

And it's not just the camera alone, car headlights have a special projector that selectively illuminates pedestrians (or just does a double flash at them). Works as intended, but few people opt for it ... and gov are still not mandating it (like automatic breaking).

[–] HeneryHawk@thelemmy.club 9 points 11 months ago (15 children)

My parents gotba relatively new Merc and I'd to turn that auto braking off. Its far too sensitive and nearly had me rear ended driving around a bend. My guess is its picking up the retroreflective spots on the markings as there usually isn't a car on that bend but the Merc is beeping at me like I'm about to be in a collision

[–] zoe@jlai.lu 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Only 344 days left till Halloween!!

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (14 replies)
[–] paultimate14@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago (4 children)

ITT: "What was the victim wearing at the time? Was the car acting in self-defense? Do cars have qualified immunity? Did the pedestrian pose a threat or instigate the car? Were they wearing their officially state-sanctioned Pedestrian uniform and helmet? Did the pedestrian have any pre-existing conditions?"

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] paddirn@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago

Well yea, more chances of witnesses during the day, so obviously night time is better for… oh wait, we’re talking about accidental deaths?

[–] r00ty@kbin.life 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

People often don't help themselves either. I remember this time, I was driving on a country road in the fog. Suddenly I saw my foglights light up a dog walking in the road. So I drove around, then as I got closer I saw a man walking this dog, dressed all in black, on an unlit country road, walking away from traffic, in dense fog.

If he made it back home alive, it's purely down to luck (or his dog being seen before him again).

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] pedz@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

Anything but slowing down when it's difficult to see ahead. We'll just victim blame dead pedestrians, deer and raccoons for wearing dark colors at night.

[–] BustlingChungus@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

Oh good, anything to help me kill more at night!

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago

Like the case with the paintball guy a few years ago. Someone was driving on a road in the woods at night when he suddenly hit a guy - dressed in dark camo, face blackened, etc, anything not to be seen - who came running out of the woods onto the road. He was a paintballer being persued by members of the opposite team. The car took him out of the game, though.

[–] solidsnake2085@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Probably because people are tired or drunk. Thermal Imaging won't fix that.

load more comments
view more: next ›