On Fri, May 20, 2005 at 01:33:58PM -0700, gossamer axe wrote:
I consider it criminal negligence waiting to express itself to release an embedded system for a critical (life threatening if fail) function that doesn't fall back to some level of manual control.
I work with a guy that said something went out on his car ( I really can't remember what it was) on the freeway and it just stopped running at 70mph. Something mechanical...I've had my car stop running on me (drove through a puddle and silence) so what really would be the difference? I'm just curious...
I've had cars stop running. Usually electrical. I kicked in the clutch and coasted to the shoulder. Not even scary.
How about a car still going 70 where you suddenly can't steer even a
smidgen to the left or right? Where you can't brake at all? Where the
accelerator won't let up and neutral won't work?
This thread started with the story of a computerized car where the steering locked in straight ahead.
I don't know if he was going straight ahead or not. I do know that while the steering did actually turn the wheels /some/, he said that had he been going faster than the ~30 MPH that he was going, he would not have made any but the most minor curve before stopping the car (the hard way). IOW, had he been on the freeway at the usual speed /and/ at a critical curve (say, the I-8 W to 163 N ramp) he never would have made it.
Jim is a very skilled driver at speed, but even he was a bit worried. Nevertheless, GM has voluntarily issued a recall on this specific problem. That tells me that it's dangerous enough that they don't want to risk the potential liability of waiting for the DOT to force them into a recall.
Only one cup of coffee in the morning for a week now. Another week and I'll be ready for the next step (1/2 cup); then the next (postal, homicidal rage ... no, no, something else!)
Do yourself a favor while easing the withdrawal - switch to green tea. Full of anti-oxidants and it raises your metabolism. One cup every morning is all I need.
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Best Regards,
~DJA.
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