fuegi@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Aaron D Fuegi) (05/02/91)
Richard Mason writes that > Computer failures are not > necessarily more frequent or more fatal than human error. I agree with you about both those points, Richard, or at least I think that your statement given a good system has the potential to be true. The problem with a computer automated highway system, though, as I see it is that it puts the potential for a problems into too few hands. That is, it creates the potential for accidents and problems on a scale which would otherwise be impossible. No single human error can decimate an entire highway system, but a single computer error on a system controlling massive amounts of traffic and roads could be absolutely catastrophic.