I offer this safety recommendation using 2019.8.5 EAP: Disable “Use HOV Lane” unless traffic shows significant speed benefit.
EAP is really good at:
1. Keeping you in the center of your lane.
2. Adjusting your speed for cars in front of you.
3. Not hitting big things.
EAP is NOT good at:
1. Avoiding potholes.
2. Avoiding road debris.
3. Maintaining NOA route in carpool lane. (Bug: In moderate traffic, it often prefers to switch out of faster HOV lane)
4. Not hitting little things. (I’ve seen EAP drive wheels straight over an object the size of a brick when a slight correction would have avoided)
I commute in LA traffic with HOV stickers and spend a lot of time in the HOV lane.
The speed benefit of HOV lane diminishes as traffic thins.
With “Use HOV lane” enabled, EAP will usually attempt to put you in the carpool lane, regardless of speed benefit.
I observe that HOV lanes in LA have two charactistics:
1. HOV lane is often unusually close to the center divider.
2. Road debris often collects in the narrow space between the HOV lane and divider.
In the last week, I have seen a ladder, a trash can, a wheel rim and a full retread all against the center divider encroaching the HOV lane.
The probability of encountering this debris is significantly higher in many LA HOV lanes due to proximity to center divider.
EAP doesn’t react to road debris (yet). If the encroachment is in the path of your vehicle, you will hit it unless you intervene. These events are unusual and unpredictable which makes them that more dangerous.
As we all become more comfortable with being the beta testers of the early stages of autonomous driving, we need to recognize the limits of the software.
Until EAP is as good at fringe cases like these as we are, it is up to us drivers to mitigate our own risks.
With 2019.8.5, in the real world of driving in LA, I believe EAP IS SAFER WITH “USE HOV LANE” DISABLED, and only used when there is significant speed benefit.
If you do experience one of these dangerous fringe cases and are forced to intervene, press the right scroll wheel and say “bug report” followed by a brief description of what occurred. The human description of edge case could be valuable to developers.
Stay safe and enjoy your ride!
EAP is really good at:
1. Keeping you in the center of your lane.
2. Adjusting your speed for cars in front of you.
3. Not hitting big things.
EAP is NOT good at:
1. Avoiding potholes.
2. Avoiding road debris.
3. Maintaining NOA route in carpool lane. (Bug: In moderate traffic, it often prefers to switch out of faster HOV lane)
4. Not hitting little things. (I’ve seen EAP drive wheels straight over an object the size of a brick when a slight correction would have avoided)
I commute in LA traffic with HOV stickers and spend a lot of time in the HOV lane.
The speed benefit of HOV lane diminishes as traffic thins.
With “Use HOV lane” enabled, EAP will usually attempt to put you in the carpool lane, regardless of speed benefit.
I observe that HOV lanes in LA have two charactistics:
1. HOV lane is often unusually close to the center divider.
2. Road debris often collects in the narrow space between the HOV lane and divider.
In the last week, I have seen a ladder, a trash can, a wheel rim and a full retread all against the center divider encroaching the HOV lane.
The probability of encountering this debris is significantly higher in many LA HOV lanes due to proximity to center divider.
EAP doesn’t react to road debris (yet). If the encroachment is in the path of your vehicle, you will hit it unless you intervene. These events are unusual and unpredictable which makes them that more dangerous.
As we all become more comfortable with being the beta testers of the early stages of autonomous driving, we need to recognize the limits of the software.
Until EAP is as good at fringe cases like these as we are, it is up to us drivers to mitigate our own risks.
With 2019.8.5, in the real world of driving in LA, I believe EAP IS SAFER WITH “USE HOV LANE” DISABLED, and only used when there is significant speed benefit.
If you do experience one of these dangerous fringe cases and are forced to intervene, press the right scroll wheel and say “bug report” followed by a brief description of what occurred. The human description of edge case could be valuable to developers.
Stay safe and enjoy your ride!
