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Kind of a mod
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Driverless cars could change everything
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. |
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#121 |
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All joking aside, that is probably one of the main selling points on something like this. But I would argue that distractions such as cell phones present a much bigger danger.
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#122 |
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Apples and oranges.
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#123 | |
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Now, this is all assuming that the software is good and works well. My fear is that there are bugs in the software or that they are able to be hacked. Just think of the havoc one could wreak if all cars were driverless and they could be hacked. That's scary.
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#124 | |
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Quote:
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#125 | |
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Take the human out of the equation, and accidents go down substantially.
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#128 | |
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I'm open to driverless cars. I really like the idea when it comes to all the idiots on the road these days. Though for me personally, I will probably stick to driving myself for now. ![]()
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#129 | |
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The second is that the hacking thing is completely nonsensical and a boogeyman from movies and TV shows. Basically every car today sold is mainly powered by a computer. Most modern safety functions of a car like adaptive cruise control and brake detection warnings are already run by a computer. Is there a massive wave of mysterious deaths due to cars doing random things? Of course not. Why would these magical hackers not be causing mayhem right now when it's certainly easier to do it today than it will be in a likely very highly regulated and monitored system 20 years from now? It's because "hacking" as people think of in the movies doesn't exist in this context. No one can upload a virus to your car and turn it into a death machine or else scorned ex-lovers would clearly resort to that rather than burying a body in a field somewhere with evidence all around. |
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#130 | |
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Funny thing, when driving our Prius, it just doesn't have the power to fly up the hills like a v8 car and I am not intentionally driving 5mph under the speed limit when ascending the hills, but the guys in their lifted F250 trucks do get a little impatient, to put it mildly. The other three are all v8s and it's never an issue. |
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#131 | |
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I've got an umbrella policy on my homeowner's insurance. Would that cover a driving claim? I hadn't thought about it before, but it seems like it would.
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#132 | |
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I asked that very question to my agent and he told me ours did. Might be worth a phone call? |
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#133 | |
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Correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty certain these driverless cars are networked (blue toothed, internet, whatever you want to call it), especially the cab company referenced in post 56 from San Francisco. I can not imagine any possibility of them turning a fleet of driverless cars loose without a central dispatch control. Can you? However, your normal consumer owned car, has a self contained, non networked computer. You would need to plug into it to hack it, similar to the service code reader. Thus, the possibility of hacking driverless cars would be a very real possibility. |
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#134 |
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I bet it is. As I think about it, the umbrella policy isn't part of my homeowner coverage. It's a separate thing that's just billed on the same invoice each year.
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#135 | |
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