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Comment by prklmn | Hacker News Reader

Are you comparing a semi truck driven at 70 mph in between two lanes of traffic to a piece of farm equipment that maxes out at 15mph and is typically driven without another vehicle in sight?

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Farm equipment still has to be driven with <6" of clearance on either side so it doesn't drive onto produce rows. Semi trucks aren't passing people going 70 mph faster than they are, and vehicles to the side and rear won't be going at a bigger speed difference than 15 mph. You only have to worry about things coming at you at 70 mph from the front.

It's still an absurd comparison. I'd venture to guess that the average combine is driven in a straight line at a set speed at least 95% of the time it's being used.

The worry for combine drivers is that last 1% of the time when they have to get that big machine (with wheels on it takes a lane and a half). Then running at 15mph they have to get from field to field. There is a big problem with other drivers (cars) seeing it from well back and not realizing it is going slow until it is too late and they rear-end it. Or they realize it is going slow in time, but because it is slow they decide to pass on a blind corner (or perhaps pass just as the combine passes a mailbox and so it cannot move over).

Yes rural roads do not have a lot of traffic, but they are not empty.

His objections are about low speed manoeuvring: backing up, navigating a yard, handing over papers, et cetera.

"Furthermore, I can't see around trucks in front of me without pulling halfway into another lane."

Elon claimed in his speech that is was easier to see all 4 corners in his semi than competitors, so it's obviously something they're thinking about.

Honda thought t was a good idea to replace volume knobs with capacitive touch strips.

People hated it so much they’ve had to add the knobs back.

A car maker ‘thinking about something’ doesn’t mean the solution will be good. There are tons of infotainment systems to serve as counterexamples.

And let’s not forget GM’s ‘easier’ gear shift that caused people to get run over because you couldn’t tell if it was in park.

Skepticism is always warranted for new things, but also remember this is the guy who made EVs viable and cool and luxurious, as well as they guy who made reusable rockets a thing, to put it mildly. Elon Musk has a brilliant mind for solving engineering problems that others think are too daunting to even approach. "Seeing around corners" is something fairly simple, especially when you consider Tesla vehicles have myriad sensors for detecting objects/vehicles on the road, even through other vehicles. Teslas can stop when the car ahead of them stops--surely they can provide a driver with a (near) real-time view of where cars are in another lane, ahead and behind the vehicle.

but then look at the gull wing doors! I think at this point we can only wait and see.

That would actually be the monostable ZF shifter used in some FCA cars.

You’re right. Wrong brand. It was also FCA who made the weird dial shifter a few years ago that was confishong to use and easy to confuse with the volume knob too?

I had ‘fun’ driving a Chrysler 200 with one of those.

not sure how that's relevant to seeing down the road around the truck in front of you.

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