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Comment by paxys | Hacker News Reader

> Is it 100% perfect? Of course not.

Considering you are putting your life, that of your family and everyone on the street around you in the hands of this software, I don't get the nonchalant "sure, it's not perfect" attitude like you were trying out the beta version of a new note taking app. It absolutely has to be 100% perfect before being allowed on the streets.

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I use it daily and I would be the first person to agree that it isn't 100% perfect, but not in the way you are assuming. The flaws it has are that it errs on the side of being too cautious.

Being overly cautious on the road is as bad as being reckless. The frequent example about 4-way stops is a perfect one. If a car is behaving unpredictably and stopping when it's their turn to go then it is creating a dangerous situation for everyone at the intersection.

You can always disengage and drive faster. Old, overly safe and imperfect drivers exist already. Do you suggest kicking them off road?

How about hardware? Is it all 100% safe? IIRC USA doesn't even require yearly warrant of fitness / MOT.

Are the roads perfectly designed and in perfect conditions? How about weather? Do you stop driving when there's blizzard outside?

Of course, it's a spectrum. It's nowhere near dangerously over-cautious. I'd describe it as a very prudent new driver. It drives the way most people probably should, but that means there's a little hesitation in low-risk scenarios sometimes. All you need to do is tap the accelerator and it instantly gets the message. We're talking about something that's barely an inconvenience, but it isn't the "100% perfection" the people here seem to blindly demand.

Yeah, just like human drivers.

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