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Comment by oxfordmale | Hacker News Reader

Humans drive both with their eyes and ears, although Tesla marketing like to state otherwise.

We are perfectly capable combining both inputs and act accordingly. An AI system can easily learn how to combining visual and LIDAR input to make the right decision given the circumstances.In the end it is just a decision tree.

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Is there any situation in which drivers disregard what they see and rely on sound instead? Sound informs what we look at, but we rely entirely on sight to drive.

If an inner tire on the dually truck or trailer I drive at work blows out, I may be completely unable to see anything if there's no smoke or tire debris in the mirrors. But I absolutely know what a blown tire sounds like and feels like, and will absolutely pull over and come to a stop for repairs.

Same as if I'm driving in winter and hit a patch of ice - Visually, it looks identical to the rest of the snowy, icy roads here, but I will drive if I feel and here that I'm spinning my wheels or sliding sideways.

If I smell coolant, oil, or a belt, even if my eyes tell me my gauges disagree I'll be pulling over for those issues as well.

Conversely, if I've replaced a tire and the TPMS light says the removed tire in the cargo area has low pressure (duh, that's why I changed it) but I know the spare (without a TPMS transmitter installed) is good, or otherwise know that the idiot light is a false positive, I'll trust my other senses over my eyes.

* A car accelerating fast from your left

* Screeching breaks from the right

* Sounds of a rattling bicycle trying to undertake you

* An approaching emergency vehicle

* Other cars beeping their horn at you

Of course you will confirm such situations visually, but you definitely using hearing in addition to sight.

Sirens from not-yet-seen emergency vehicles is the most basic example.

Not just sound but also touch and balance.

Disregard? Not entirely, but sometimes I will be driving my car and opening its top or window, and for few seconds I can hear that there’s another car next to me, however, it’s in my blind spot, so yeah it does assist in driving.

Humans also use proprioception during driving to understand changes in gross velocity and vector and hand and foot positioning.

For me, my ears response faster than my eyes in some cases. I think someone else pointed out that when there's a bicycle ringing their bells on your side, your ears will catch it first then you use your vision to confirm it.

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