If you’ve ever been behind the wheel and wondered what in the world the driver in the car next to you was thinking, you’re not alone.
In fact, robot drivers have the same question, and it’s causing traffic issues, according to a new study.
In short, the self-driving cars, as C-3PO once said, sometimes just don’t understand human behavior.
“The ability to navigate in traffic is based on much more than traffic rules,” says professor Barry Brown, from the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Computer Science. “Social interactions, including body language, play a major role when we signal each other in traffic. This is where the programming of self-driving cars still falls short.”
The researchers took a deep dive into 18 hours of YouTube videos of self-driving cars making their way around various streets, and one common problem quickly arose: The robot driver can’t interpret a human driver — or pedestrian, for that matter — waving it to “go ahead.”
Instead, the robot car pauses, waiting for an obstruction to pass. However, in one case, the driverless car, which had stopped for pedestrians in a crosswalk who were willing to let the car pass, suddenly started moving again, causing the pedestrians to jump out of the way.
“The driverless vehicle stops so as to not hit pedestrians, but ends up driving into them anyway because it doesn’t understand the signals,” Brown says.
The lack of ability to process social interactions like a “go ahead” wave, the scientists say, is a big problem.
“Besides creating confusion and wasted time in traffic, it can also be downright dangerous,” Brown says.