[hchasestevens]

I think it's surely safety-critical that the car hit _some_ objects. For instance, you don't want to be going 70mph down the highway only for the car to attempt to come to a screeching halt when a paper bag or some other litter blows into your lane. Behavior like that is liable to itself cause a pretty serious accident, since it's so unlike the reaction any of the drivers around you will be anticipating.

Likewise, unpleasant though it is to admit, it's probably (in many circumstances, especially inclement weather) safer to hit a squirrel or a raccoon that dashes across the road than it is to try to swerve to avoid them. On the other hand, there's going to be a good case from a driver safety perspective to avoid hitting a deer, and it is _critical_ that you attempt to avoid hitting a moose. Obviously, things here get much more complex when you're talking about a child or adult human being.

Point being, I think it's dismissive to just go "the car shouldn't hit anything it detects" - not all objects are equal, even assuming perfect detection (i.e. not mistaking a pothole for a giant rock).

[mikequinlan]

You miss the point. If there is an object the size of a baby carriage in front of my car, I am going to avoid hitting it if at all possible. It doesn't matter what I think it is. It might damage my car if I hit or, or make me lose control (if the front of the car rides up on top of it), or possibly even deploy the airbags. But I am not going to even think of any of these things while driving -- I am just going to avoid hitting it. Tesla is unable to do that and I don't understand why that is ok with anyone.

[BugsJustFindMe]

As mikequinlan said, you're so close and yet thinking about it completely backward. Not knowing enough about what the object is to know whether it's an obscured human (or a boulder that will total your car and leave you in the hospital) is all the reason you need to not hit it. You decide whether to hit a squirrel after you determine that hitting it won't ruin your day, not before. Not hitting something needs to be the default unless determined that it's safe to do otherwise.

[makeitrain]

What if it’s only going 10mph over a speed bump, like in this example?