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Comment by srfilipek | Hacker News Reader

This is all FUD with zero data backing it up.

The article makes it sound like there is accurate weight sensors in the vehicle, which is ridiculous. One might be able to derive some number from vehicle performance information, but I'd like to see an actual study showing that it's (a) possible and (b) accurate for any sort of use.

> Modern cars collect as much as 25 gigabytes of data per hour

Sure, add up all the bits in the CAN messages being sent around constantly and you might get that number. That amount of data is neither being stored nor sent off-vehicle.

What a dishonest article.

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Cars do have accurate weight sensors actually. I’m a former Honda Master Technician. The drivers seat on Honda’s from probably mid 2000 onward have a weight sensor. It’s used to determine the deployment for the multi stage airbags. I hooked up our diagnostic equipment and sat in the seat once to see how accurate it was. And it’s very accurate. However most people sit with their feet on the floor, so it doesn’t show the proper weight. But lift your feet up, and it was accurate to within a pound of my actual weight.

However, this is FUD, because Honda didn’t do squat with that data beyond the airbag system. It wasn’t collected or transmitted. It was simply used at the moment of airbag deployment to determine if it should deploy the airbag in fast or slow mode.

So you’re right to call the articles claim BS, but you’re wrong if you think there isn’t an accurate weight sensor in the car.

I can’t remember if the passenger seat had one too. I don’t think it did. The dual-stage airbags are really only relevant for the driver side because of the steering wheel.

> it was accurate to within a pound of my actual weight

That is extremely surprising to me. I've worked (and do work) in the auto industry and didn't think that anyone would pay for such an accurate weight measurement.

There is definitely a weight sensor in the passenger seat, because it turns the passenger airbag light off or on depending on how much weight is in the seat.

> (brand) didn’t do squat with that data beyond the airbag system. It wasn’t collected or transmitted.

That doesn't mean that they won't in the future.

Yes, and unfortunately the Times does not have a public editor anymore.

The citation for the "collect" claim actually says that vehicles process that much data in an hour. As if cars have terabyte hard drives in them, or that manufacturers are paying cellular carriers for 18TB of traffic per vehicle per month...

It’s also an opinion piece so they can claim “it was just an opinion, not a statement of fact”

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