>I'd argue we already have too much testing under "ideal conditions." I want to see self-driving vehicles tested in snow, in rain, in strong winds, in fog, and on mountain roads.
Unfortunately, the vehicles don't yet work perfectly under "ideal conditions". I think this ought to be the first step. There's no need to have a "blanket" rollout of autonomous vehicles - start in ideal cities and then spread further.
Granted, I DO think that they'll find driving in snow/rain/winds to be fundamentally different enough from ideal urban driving that the exact methods the vehicle AI has "learned" may not directly apply. So, it may merit testing in parallel, because as you've said we need to stop ignoring these cases.
I guess my point is a long-winded way of saying "Yes we need to test those cases, but in addition to ideal urban conditions, not instead of."
Singapore is a city, and therefore already quite challenging. I've never been there, but I suspect there will be streets with playing children, scooters, etc.
Compared with most cities, there really aren't many playing children or other people in the road (you'd set autonomous vehicles to avoid Little India :-) ), the roads are impeccably maintained and there's virtually no traffic.
Living in Singapore, I disagree with you. Of course there are not many children playing on the main roads, but drive into a residential estate and things will be very different.
When I drive, I wish that your last statement was true. However, you're welcome to look at the traffic view of Google Maps and you can see that's wishful thinking. It's not as bad as places like Bangkok or Manila, but about as bad as your average European city.
I'm a European who's lived in Singapore. The traffic really doesn't compare with your average European city: there are a lot more cars per capita and no "off peak" plates here, and generally inferior capacity road networks and worse public transport alternatives too.
Pretty sure Google Maps' traffic maps are scaled based on averages for the road/area and not some absolute scale for easy comparison too (though this being HN there'll probably be someone that worked on it along to correct me in a moment)
Unfortunately, the vehicles don't yet work perfectly under "ideal conditions". I think this ought to be the first step. There's no need to have a "blanket" rollout of autonomous vehicles - start in ideal cities and then spread further.
Granted, I DO think that they'll find driving in snow/rain/winds to be fundamentally different enough from ideal urban driving that the exact methods the vehicle AI has "learned" may not directly apply. So, it may merit testing in parallel, because as you've said we need to stop ignoring these cases.
I guess my point is a long-winded way of saying "Yes we need to test those cases, but in addition to ideal urban conditions, not instead of."