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0 pointspanarky5mo ago0 comments

93% of American drivers think they're better drivers than the median driver [0].

This overconfidence causes humans to take unnecessary risks that not only endanger themselves, but everyone else on the road.

After taking several dozen Waymo rides and watching them negotiate complex and ambiguous driving scenarios, including many situations where overconfident drivers are driving dangerously, I realize that Waymo is a far better driver than I am.

Waymos don't just prevent a large percentage of accidents by making fewer mistakes than a human driver, but Waymos also avoid a lot of accidents caused by other distracted and careless human drivers.

Now when I have to drive a car myself, my goal is to try to drive as much like a Waymo as I can.

[0] https://gwern.net/doc/psychology/1981-svenson.pdf

0 comments

Night_Thastus5mo ago

It's not just overconfidence, it's selfishness.

Speeding feels like "I'm more important than everyone else and the safety of others and rules don't apply to me" personally. It's one thing to match the speed of traffic and avoid being a nuisance (that I'm fine with) - a lot of people just think they're the main character and everyone else is just in their way.

It's a problem that goes way beyond driving, sadly.

treis5mo ago

Eh this doesn't mean much. The quality of drivers is pretty bimodal.

You have the group that's really bad and does things like drive drunk, weave in and out of traffic, do their makeup and so on.

The other group generally pays attention and tries to drive safely. This is larger than the first group and realistically there's not all that much difference within the group.

If you're in group two you will think you're above average because the comparison is to the crap drivers in group one.

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