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Comment by taneq | Hacker News Reader

So even the small electronic components are locked in after the vehicle passes crash testing? That seems weird, I wouldn't have thought that the IC you use on the indicator modules (say) would affect the crashworthiness, especially if you're replacing like with like.

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These things aren't microservices for a dating app that is going to fold in two years. The core of working in any safety-critical field is strict empiricism. You have to accept how little you know and not believe anything you haven't seen with your own eyes (and even then, it's wise to distrust what you've seen). To believe that you have predicted all of the thousands of scenarios that will arise out of "just one small change" and forego testing is a good way to surprise somebody an early trip to the pearly gates.

that's so humbling. real cool. I should work there !

Crash testing will be part of a wider testing plan. The logic there is that you have shown all the tests to pass using that particular hardware+software configuration. Only that configuration (and any future ones you put through testing, verification and validation) is what you're allowed to ship to customers.

(I work in a regulated environment, but not automotive, and we run into the same barriers, often for even minor changes. We work agile, but changes will get released in planned batches every few months, rather than shipping instantly. For automotive, I'm guessing their update cadence would be every model year.)

And if the IC on the indicator gets changed out and the new one causes interference which leads to the airbags not deploying in a crash?

Building things which can have small defects that kill people is just a different game.

Yet we allow people to replace almost any part on the car themeselves, with varying grades of quality made by aftermarket or OE manufacturers. Brakes, suspension components, body panels, electical components, etc. purchased from Amazon and made somewhere in China. Once it's in the customer's hands, it seems a lot of those rules go out the window.

In Germany you are not allowed to change the car

E.g. there are these additinonal brake lights one could place at the top of the rear window. For a long time it was illegal to use them, even if you just glued them on the inside

As someone who has worked on cars and motorcycles seems ok to me. Most failed aftermarket modifications will be like random DNA changes- no affect, a purely cosmetic affect, or a dead machine. And risks are mostly to the driver so there is an incentive not to mess up.

It's not difficult for me to get the difference: manufacturers' actions can kill thousands of people by subjecting them to additional risk without them knowing. Individuals have a right to subject themselves to risk. The food industry is regulated to avoid food contamination or food poisoning - but there are no laws against eating mouldy food in your fridge if you want to; that is on you.

Obviously, if the aftermarket product puts other people at risk, then the consumer who did the modification would be legally liable

It would seem not all car manufacturers are so strict...[1]. Some have no issues to use tape and some hardware store components in a pinch to keep production running. Theres no way they put that through crash testing...

[1]: https://www.carscoops.com/2020/09/the-tesla-model-y-has-biza...

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