Fortran

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Mon, 12 May 2014 01:27:17 +0100, Mark Lawrence wrote:

> On 12/05/2014 00:51, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
>>
>> Cars are standardized -- there are basically two types, manuals and
>> automatics.
>>
>>
> Sadly they can still go wrong due to modern engineering practices.  In
> my neck of the woods some years ago people were killed when standing at
> a bus stop, because the car driver was desperately pressing down on the
> automatic's brake 

Perhaps (s)he should have steered the car away from the people. Or I
suppose the steering wheel failed as well?


> but EMI overrode the engine controls 

EMI? The record company? Wow, I knew they were evil, but I didn't realise 
they were *that* evil.


> and the car
> simply went faster.  At least that is what the defence claimed at the
> trial.  With no expert on the prosecution to refute the claim "not
> guilty" was the verdict.

Sounds like the prosecution were just going through the motions. They 
should have either had an expert able to refute the claim, or not 
prosecuted in the first place.

Personally, I'm rather skeptical about claims of "I kept pushing the 
brake but the car just accelerated". There is a long and inglorious 
history of people stepping on the wrong pedal when in a panic, or drunk,
or distracted. I've even done it myself. (I expect *every* driver
has, at some point.) And a not-quite-as-long but even more inglorious 
history of lawyers inventing nonsense links between the brake pedal and 
the accelerator in order to extort money from car manufacturers. E.g. see 
"Galileo's Revenge" by Peter W Huber and the case of the mythical, but 
amazingly profitable for the lawyers involved, Audi Sudden Acceleration 
Syndrome.

For me personally, perhaps the most despicable part of the whole sordid 
story was the case of Wende Gatts, who ran over Darlene Norris, causing 
$300,000 in damages. Not only did she got off scot-free, thanks to the 
junk science invented by her "expert witness", but actual victim Norris 
was ordered to pay Gatts' legal fees of $64K.

Of course, that was in the late 1980s, when even luxury cars still had 
mechanical linkage between the user and the brakes. These days, when 
nearly everything in the car is computer controlled, I wouldn't be 
*quite* so skeptical. Nevertheless, chances are almost certain that by 
far the majority of unexpected acceleration cases are PEBCAP errors.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/its-all-your-fault-the-dot-renders-its-verdict-on-toyotas-unintended-acceleration-scare-feature

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/toyota-recall-scandal-media-circus-and-stupid-drivers-editorial




-- 
Steven D'Aprano
http://import-that.dreamwidth.org/