Anyone else find this at least unnerving....

[64osby]

I have discussed self driving cars at length with a friend. He states that they will overwhelm us before we know it.

I believe it is more a generational issue. I for one do not want my driving privileges / freedom taken away. I like to stomp on it or float along enjoying life.

Many of the current young drivers could care less about having a car or a license. They would rather have a phone that they could call uber with.

 

[Pusher]

Now now achris, I said car ;-) a single piston crank start could eliminate electronics completely, (except electrical wires and electricity of course) but I think we know what I meant
I have a wife who wouldn't fair well medically without electronics so you don't have to preach the gains of electronics to me

Actually, rabbit trail, I don't like runnjng AC, electric windows, and sometimes stereos (hard to hear all my imporrant thoughts).

 

[laurentide]

There will always be anecdotal evidence that people will point to regarding the anomalous and infrequent failures of autonomous vehicles, but that's not how statistics work. For every failure of the current prototype SD cars there are literally tens of thousands of human driver fault "accidents." It's really not even an argument, just something that we'll have to get used to. Like giving up our fossil fuel engines, which is actually an interesting problem for us recreational boaters. Where do we put all those batteries? That's the next big breakthrough, I hope.

 

[bruceb58]

For every failure of the current prototype SD cars there are literally tens of thousands of human driver fault "accidents."

Totally agree.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Put tens of thousands of current prototype SD cars out there and see where we're at. I still love driving........

 

[Pusher]

Agreed. When your entire family dies because the computer had a glitch and plowed into a semi... well, we'll see how you feel about those statistics and who's doing the suing :-/

They've had auto pilot on airliners for a while but the pilot's still have authority to take over as the pilot.


I'll stick with my crazy driving.

 

[proshadetree]

There are already forklifts that do not require an operator. Step in front of it and it will change directions or stop. My bigest issue with this is that technology is outrunning repairmen at an alarming rate. Who will fix your driverless car? What if they calibrated it just off center? I know in the equipment industry technology is advancing at an alarming pace. Not all of it good or in my opinion real world tested. The driverless car brings up many issues. Who is responsible for what. Accidents,repairs, updates, unapproved modifications?

 

[Tim Frank]

A less cynical person than I am might suspect that this will be a veritable field day for litigation lawyers.

 

[GA_Boater]

A less cynical person than I am might suspect that this will be a veritable field day for litigation lawyers.

Will the ambulance chasers drive themselves or let the chips do it?

 

[Tim Frank]

Will the ambulance chasers drive themselves or let the chips do it?

That is the million dollar question (less contingency fee of course)

 

[garbageguy]

Interesting discussion. Yep, I enjoy driving too - always have as do many of my contemporaries. I find very few "kids" that do, but their phone...

Electronics? Wouldn't even a horse-and-buggy have electronic impulses going on in the horse?

My guess is that people, infrastructure, etc will change so much that the thought of a "driverless car" won't even make sense before too long. Fortunately, I think that will be after I'm piloting my old fuel-burners in the great beyond.

 

[laurentide]

My guess is that people, infrastructure, etc will change so much that the thought of a "driverless car" won't even make sense before too long.

Ya, it'll be analogous to the "horseless cart" terminology that was used prior to Henry Ford's mass production innovations. When people don't identify with cars as enthusiasts they'll become about as exciting as a washing machine. I happen to like cars and driving as well, but that's a useless opinion in the face of what will be a world changing technological shift. Progress marches past the luddites with little regard for their feelings.

As far as legal liability goes, I suspect we'll see a high court decision that sets the precedent when this stuff gets going for real.

Self driving trucks will be here much sooner than passenger vehicles, which will take a ton of jobs. I'm not sure how we deal with that. If you're a professional driver it makes a bunch of sense to have a contingency plan...I hear that the future is bright for software engineers

 

[Pusher]

I still believing it's a while off from now. Toyota couldn't even get a brake system to work correctly and look at the ill-will that created.

I think when the first driverless truck goes off the road killing a child pedestrian the media will destroy the company and everything attached to it.

Computers processing large amounts of information capable of this will require more parts... Which will lead to failures. How many of us have 5 year old computers that can't keep up with our needs.

You'll have front and rear traffic sensors, rdf signals reading speed limit sign outputs, electronic actuators for braking and steering and a gps for ...well DRIVING! ;-)

All possible, as with an airline, but not feasible in my mind on such a grand scale with millions of vehicles having hundreds of parts that could go wrong. I'll be aging or dead by then.

... Just imagine if a tire were low. The thing would imediately search for the closest gas station

As bender from futurama says, now technology will taste the wrath of my hickory switch!

 

[bruceb58]

I still believing it's a while off from now. Toyota couldn't even get a brake system to work correctly and look at the ill-will that created.

The Toyota problem you are referring to was the so called"accelerator issue" which has never been proven to be caused by the car and was likely human error.

Sorry, but I will trust a computer driven car over 99% of human driven ones.

SpaceX can get a rocket to land on a postage stamp sized barge in the middle of the ocean with minimal or no human intervention. Cars are a piece of cake in comparison.

 

[laurentide]

^^Audi had the same thing happen, and it is now assumed to be human error. They even put an accelerator delay in their cars for a couple of years because some dingbats thought the gas pedal was the brake. The Prius recently had a parking brake recall, not a catastrophic brake system failure.

I had a driver basically try to merge into me today while on their phone. I'll take emotionless, safe driving AI any day over many of the distracted, reckless, and easily enraged drivers on the road now. That's another thing you'd never see with self-drivers: road rage.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Look at pickups and towing. They would have to know the weight of what's being towed for proper braking and length for changing lanes... IE 16ft boat vs a 40' 5th wheel.......... I just don't see it happening on a large scale anytime soon.....

 

[achris]

Driverless cars.... No more drunken idiots heII-bent of killing themselves thumb and others mad.... Means you can tell the car to take you to the pub, get a skinful, and SAFELY be driven home..... and not have to worry about getting caught DUI/DD.... The hotel industry is rubbing its hands together already!

And don't get me started on complete and utter morons who don't know how to merge properly :facepalm:.....

Saying a car will run off the road just to kill a pedestrian is grossly over-dramatizing it... And besides, we already have cars doing that....

Yes, I think we are years overdue for cars capable of removing the nut from behind the wheel.....

Chris......

 

[WIMUSKY]

Start mass production "Down Under" and let us know how it goes.....

 

[GA_Boater]

 

[proshadetree]

I will agree that there are days i wish all cars selfdrove. Maybe they will make them so you can turnit on like cruise control. Then there are the sunny days with the top down, leather wrapped wheel in your hands that make you feel alive. Trailer towing and diffrent weights will be difficult to control for trucking applications. I am sure we are close. Look at the last ten years, how have cars changed? Cell phones? Look back twenty years. Technology is advancing rapidly and I don't see it stopping anytime soon.