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Comment by nonfamous | Hacker News Reader

Escalators have big red “Emergency Stop” buttons anyone can press when things go wrong. Why not one for autonomous vehicles, too?

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Passenger safety concerns? If anyone would be able to stop an autonomous vehicle, it may be not always in the passenger's best interest. Could be OK if the passenger has an override, though - if they decide to tell the car to not comply with a legitimate stop request, it should be treated as if they'd be driving themselves and refused to stop.

And, obviously, emergency stop should initiate stopping, but the vehicle should do so only when it's safe. It's not an escalator that's safe to halt immediately and at any moment.

For an completely unmanned vehicle (driving to pick up or to recharge/park for the night) - probably no big deal.

Even while unmanned it could be exploited. A robo-taxi's competitor could hit the emergency stop on any vehicles they see driving empty.

The point is that would be illegal and prosecuted. A competitor could also shoot them with guns but we don't worry about that, don't we?

> it may be not always in the passenger's best interest

What is a realistic scenario here? Unless you are in a tank in a warzone...

How is a traditional, non-self driving car protecting you from someone pointing a gun at you? Do you have bullet-proof glass and bodywork?

Here[0] is a realistic scenario from last week near me. Just checked. No tanks involved. You can decide for yourself if it is a warzone.

Note: OP edited the post after my response. Would be good if HN indicated this.

[0]: Cherry Creek carjacking prompts other victims to come forward https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/cherry-creek-carjackin...

> "When all the four doors popped open and they came out with assault rifles, I was honestly thinking, I'm going to be dead," he said, remembering the moment the suspects got out of that car.

That sounds warzone tbh.

Carjackings and other crimes where people could press the button in a bad part of town and pull the riders out.

Or just jump in front of the car which is supposed to stop and then your companions handle carjacking the immobilized vehicle. There are many ways to normally stop or trick an autonomous vehicle without needing a big red button to stop it. Spike strips are used by police to stop human driven vehicles all the time.

What about if someone triggers it when you're traveling 75 mph on the highway?

I.e. what if someone pulls in front of you on the highway and then stands on the brakes?

Do you have a bulletproof car that can effectively protect the driver? Or are you just imagining Mad Max?

Trains too. There are abusers but not many.

Because it would take about 5 minutes for people to figure out how to use that for nefarious purposes.

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