this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2025
1643 points (99.2% liked)

Not The Onion

14986 readers
2718 users here now

Welcome

We're not The Onion! Not affiliated with them in any way! Not operated by them in any way! All the news here is real!

The Rules

Posts must be:

  1. Links to news stories from...
  2. ...credible sources, with...
  3. ...their original headlines, that...
  4. ...would make people who see the headline think, “That has got to be a story from The Onion, America’s Finest News Source.”

Please also avoid duplicates.

Comments and post content must abide by the server rules for Lemmy.world and generally abstain from trollish, bigoted, or otherwise disruptive behavior that makes this community less fun for everyone.

And that’s basically it!

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Mark Rober just set up one of the most interesting self-driving tests of 2025, and he did it by imitating Looney Tunes. The former NASA engineer and current YouTube mad scientist recreated the classic gag where Wile E. Coyote paints a tunnel onto a wall to fool the Road Runner.

Only this time, the test subject wasn’t a cartoon bird… it was a self-driving Tesla Model Y.

The result? A full-speed, 40 MPH impact straight into the wall. Watch the video and tell us what you think!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] arankays@lemmy.ca 23 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I tried Waymo when I was visiting LA a few months ago. Genuinely terrific stuff.

I do not trust Teslas one bit though.

[–] kenoh@lemm.ee 12 points 1 day ago

Tesla doesn't use lidar for its sensing, living on the prayer that AI will just get good enough soon enough. Absolutely galaxy brained decision.

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (3 children)

waymo's have almost hit me like three times, and if i were slower, they would have. you are part of the problem. those are killing machines.

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 0 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

How? Do you just walk into the road without looking or something?

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

yeah, only way it could have happened; has to be the victim's fault because they totally always respect crosswalks.

how much do they pay you?

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 0 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, I definitely think you're leaving some details out here.

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

You're right; I was dressed kinda slutty at least one of those times, so yeah, maybe it was my fault. how about what you're leaving out? how much do they pay you? you're all over these responses with similar lines.

[–] dan@lemmy.i.secretponi.es -3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm surrounded by waymos every time I go out and I can tell you that if they "almost hit you" three times then that's very likely a you problem -- and a reason for more waymos, not fewer.

Anecdotally, only once have I been in a situation where I've said, "do better, robot" because I was slightly inconvenienced by it.

By the numbers there are very few waymo incidents compared to human drivers and those include waymos being hit by bicyclists who aren't paying attention.

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"if something almost does grievous bodily harm to you, we need more of it, keep playing those odds!"? that seems like a request for me to be harmed.

[–] dan@lemmy.i.secretponi.es 1 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Again, based on experience, and the data, if you were exposed to "grievous bodily harm" then it seems like you should change something.

I don't know you so I'm not going to suggest you're making up how you feel about the situation but you definitely don't sound like you're expressing an accurate representation of reality.

have you ever been hit by a car? maybe try it sometime before you talk about this shit, because you're being really casual, and I cannot stress how unpleasant an experience it is.

[–] kescusay@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Uhh, think you could rephrase this so it doesn't sound like you're rooting for the Waymo in any Waymo-bicycle accident?

[–] dan@lemmy.i.secretponi.es 5 points 22 hours ago

I'm not rooting for anyone in any collision. Everyone should pay attention and drive responsibly.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

almost. Human driver would hit you in similar scenarios probably.

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

almost because I dodged.

If these vehicles don't need to obey the procedural laws that are supposed to keep me safe, why should I refrain from smashing them with a hammer, or taking them apart and selling the pieces, or making cool sculptures out of them?

aside from being profoundly lazy, of course.

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 0 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Where were you that you had to dodge a Waymo? Were you walking down the middle of the road or something?

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

yeah it has to be the victim's fault. they totally respect crosswalks. how much do they pay you?

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 0 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

We've heard one side of the story, about a very unlikely series of events. I do think that person is leaving out a few details.

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

how much do they pay you? you're all over these responses.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

data > your personal anecdotes. Get real dude.

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

these companies do not provide data. they provide blatantly doctored ad copy.

and the engineers that design them have said there's no way to make them follow traffic rules perfectly. that they do often sacrifice safety for efficiency when the choice can be made.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

What are you even on about tin foil. Waymos are on the road - how is this data doctored? You can literally see that it's safer than human driving in this exact environment.

[–] Retropunk64@lemm.ee 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Lmao, you can literally see? So anecdotal evidence? What happened you the data you were just promoting?

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

Dude just google it there are many papers already. Can't be bothered wirh ludites like you bye

thinking a corporation is using tech poorly is not 'being a luddite'. how much do you get paid to shill this crap?

[–] Retropunk64@lemm.ee 0 points 3 hours ago

So you're just posturing and full of shit, got it.