Fortran

[Mark Lawrence]

On 12/05/2014 03:28, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> 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?

The entire vehicle was perfectly sound after the event, including the 
brake and accelerator controls.  It was only during the accident that 
the interference played havoc.  Pure coincidence of course.

>
>
>> 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.

Ho, ho, ho :)

>
>
>> 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.

Can't do that if you don't know in advance what the defence is :(

>
> 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
>

I hadn't heard about ASAS, another to add to my list of syndromes :)

-- 
My fellow Pythonistas, ask not what our language can do for you, ask 
what you can do for our language.

Mark Lawrence

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