Driverless cars could change everything

[DaFace]

Thought this article was cool to think about.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-28376929

Driverless cars could change everything


For now, it seems like a novelty - cars that can operate independently of human control, safely cruising down streets thanks to an array of sensors and pinpoint GPS navigation.

But if the technology avoids getting crushed by government regulators and product liability lawsuits, writes the Federalist's Dan McLaughlin, it could prompt a cultural shift similar to the early 20th century move away from horses as the primary means of transportation.

First and foremost, he writes, the spread of driverless cars will likely greatly reduce the number of traffic accidents - which currently cost Americans $871b (£510b) a year.

"A truly driverless road would not be accident-free, given the number of accidents that would still be caused by mechanical and computer errors, weather conditions, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and sheer random chance," he says. "But it would make the now-routine loss of life and limb on the roads far rarer."

Computer-operated cars would eventually reshape car design, he says, as things like windshields - "a large and vulnerable piece of glass" - become less necessary. Drivers will be able to sit wherever they'd like in their cars, which could make car interiors more like mobile lounges than like cockpits.

The age required to operate a driverless car is likely to drop, he says. There could be an impact on the legal drinking age, as well, as preventing drunk driving was one of the prime justifications for the US-wide setting minimum age to purchase alcohol at 21 years old.

There's other possible economic fallout, McLaughlin contends, such as a restructuring of the auto insurance industry, the obsolescence of taxi drivers and lower ratings for drive-time radio programmes.

The high-tech security state will also get boost, he writes, as GPS-tagged cars will be easier to track, making life difficult for fugitives and car thieves. Police will also be able to move resources away from operations like traffic enforcement.

Of course, he writes, the towns that rely on speed traps to fund their government services will be facing budget shortfalls. Privacy advocates could also get an unexpected boost, he notes, since traffic stops are one of the main justifications for police vehicle searches.

Finally, there's the prospect of the as-yet-unrealised futurist dream of flying cars. With computer-controlled vehicles that strictly follow traffic rules, McLaughlin says, "the potential for three-dimensional roads becomes a lot less scary and more a matter of simply solving the technological challenge".

Where we're going, we may not need roads after all.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

If you can't see how it could be, that is on you.

It SHOULDN'T be a political issue. If the data shows it saves lives and reduces accidents then we should further investigate its usage and expand r & d of this industry.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Interesting bump. It seems like a lot of AI technologies (driverless cars, ChatGPT, etc.) are able to go from 0% awesome to 95% awesome pretty quickly, but that final 5% is super important yet difficult to achieve.

We've come a long way since this thread in terms of designing cars that can stay in their lanes and not hit anything in front of them, but things are still a little iffy in terms of being able to literally never have an active driver.

I still think we'll get there eventually, but it may still be a bit before we start removing steering wheels from cars.

Lol, I would never buy/ride in a car without human controls; steering wheel, brake/gas pedals. Not a chance in hell.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Balto

It really does seem like its 100% of cars need to be driverless or it will just always have issues.

Let’s not forget that not all driverless is intended for regular people driving cars. I imagine first it will be used for commercial purposes. Then for non traditional transportation (ie low speed loops). I could also see it being a useful resource in areas where people don’t have many cars. Would imagine private passenger cars are one of the last dominoes to fall. And man, Uber or Lyft would do this in a heartbeat. And even still, I think we’re a very very long way away from any significant adoption of it

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by BWillie

It SHOULDN'T be a political issue. If the data shows it saves lives and reduces accidents then we should further investigate its usage and expand r & d of this industry.

Ok, I will not take the bait.

Please, take more of my freedoms away, please!

If you read the article in post 56, I would say they are not quite there yet.

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Lol, I would never buy/ride in a car without human controls; steering wheel, brake/gas pedals. Not a chance in hell.

Would you ride in a plane being flown/landed on auto-pilot?

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Ok, I will not take the bait.

Please, take more of my freedoms away, please!

If you read the article in post 56, I would say they are not quite there yet.

There is nothing in post 56 about whether driverless cars have a higher or lower accident rate than human drivers.

They have some 'sillier' accidents, but that doesn't mean more in the big picture.

And not all the companies are the same. My understanding is that Google has a much better track record than some of the other companies.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

Would you ride in a plane being flown/landed on auto-pilot?

Lol, never. Doesn't matter, as it's not even legal to do so in the US. It is legal in EUR, and of course they've already had a few fatal crashes using that technology. Geniouses that they are.



Would you ride in a commercial airplane that didn't have pilots? No cockpit either, so even if someone on the plane was a pilot, he couldn't go up and take the controls if something went wrong?

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Lol, never. Doesn't matter, as it's not even legal to do so in the US. It is legal in EUR, and of course they've already had a few fatal crashes using that technology. Geniouses that they are.



Would you ride in a commercial airplane that didn't have pilots? No cockpit either, so even if someone on the plane was a pilot, he couldn't go up and take the controls if something went wrong?

In bad weather, almost zero visibility, it doesn't matter much if there is a pilot or not.

Pilots give people warm fuzzy feelings and I'm sure there will be a couple in the cockpit trying to stay awake for a few more years as the plane essentially does everything for them.

Same thing with a lot of medical surgery in the not too distant future I would expect.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Ok, I will not take the bait.

Please, take more of my freedoms away, please!

If you read the article in post 56, I would say they are not quite there yet.

Why would you WANT to drive in the first place...if you didnt have to. I don't know about you but I HATE driving.

When I go on a long trip and I use auto pilot which still isn't even close to driverless driving....but I feel 1000% less fatigued when I get home.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

In bad weather, almost zero visibility, it doesn't matter much if there is a pilot or not.

Pilots give people warm fuzzy feelings and I'm sure there will be a couple in the cockpit trying to stay awake for a few more years as the plane essentially does everything for them.

Same thing with a lot of medical surgery in the not too distant future I would expect.

Lol, I guess you've never flown an airplane in bad weather. We have these things called instruments. Shockingly, you can actually fly an airplane in zero visibility conditions anywhere in the world.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Why would you WANT to drive in the first place...if you didnt have to. I don't know about you but I HATE driving.

When I go on a long trip and I use auto pilot which still isn't even close to driverless driving....but I feel 1000% less fatigued when I get home.

I actually enjoy driving and being in control. Someone not enjoying driving is kind of foreign to me but obviously there are those. My wife hasn't driven in 9 years and we have four vehicles, lol. I like the freedom of knowing I can go when and where I choose.

I can picture it now, electric self driving cars, where you use your implanted body chip to access, controlled by a central government dispatch. The fee being automatically deducted from your account. No cash please.


Have you ever raced? It is a rush like no other in my opinion.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

There is nothing in post 56 about whether driverless cars have a higher or lower accident rate than human drivers.

They have some 'sillier' accidents, but that doesn't mean more in the big picture.

And not all the companies are the same. My understanding is that Google has a much better track record than some of the other companies.

Quite obviously the percentage of driverless cars compared to standard ones is very small.
But even in this small sample size, the company has already decided to cut it's fleet in half.
Just maybe there is more to it than we are being made aware of?

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Why would you WANT to drive in the first place...if you didnt have to. I don't know about you but I HATE driving.

When I go on a long trip and I use auto pilot which still isn't even close to driverless driving....but I feel 1000% less fatigued when I get home.

The more I think about it, I am spoiled to living out here off the grid. We have to go to Springfield today and the idiot drivers/traffic always makes me want to go postal.

Please, make them all get driverless cars!

[Katipan]

People in L.A. will keep you in your lane out of spite. (Not me, I can drive) Good luck nice polite driverless blinker.

[Gravedigger]

It's not a political issue, it's entirely financial. Big oil won't let it happen, not anytime soon. The politics is just theater, like nobody gives a shit about your gas stove Doris. I personally look at a movie like Minority Report and think that would be a perfect scenario to have. Not the eye scanning thing, but the fact that you could just get in a car and it get you to work safely, without traffic jams, stupid drivers, dealing with a busy gas station, and having to take long stops at traffic lights, I'd be down for it. You're never going to hit zero sum, and the process to get to that though is going to be rough.