Is driverless car really smart enough to handle all situations? (rust, running)
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Everyone will complain they are too cautious and careful. They observe conservative stopping distances for instance as you noted above. But we then complain they are leaving too much room.
Well, there's being conservative, and then there's ridiculous. The vehicle I saw was leaving probably 5-10 times the space that a responsible human driver would leave. It was way over in the right hand lane, which I believe was an exit-only lane (not that it matters I guess).
No doubt they will improve significantly over time, but the freeway system is not their playground for experimentation when these cars are obviously not at all ready for "prime time".
First, until it is proven to me that driverless cars are safer than human driven cars, I refuse to accept that they are<>.
As I pointed out back in the thread, go onto Youtube and search "car wrecks". In Russia especially it is common to have a dash camera so many crashes are recorded. Common causes are drunkenness, speed too fast, and left turns.
As you watch think about what happens with one or both vehicles being under computer control.
"Mostly a non-event"
It's impossible for manual and autonomous cars to not coexist. Autonomous cars won't come out for another 3-5 years. Those will only be available on top trim levels and they will have a steering wheel. After 10 years or so automation will be available on all trims but the average car being 12 years old will mean another 20 years before autonomous cars will be the dominate car and another 10-20 years before manual drive cars are completely rare. Even then, I'd expect certain sports cars and other speciality cars to be offered in manually driven modes only.
I believe making autonomous cars and humans play nicely together will prove more difficult than many people expect. If they cannot play nice then they will not be allowed to coexist on most/all public roads. Doesn't matter if the autonomous cars are better at driving. Humans vote in elections, cars do not. If there's enough pushback legislators will not allow them on public roads, at least for a long, long time.
Of course you can have all the automation you like as long as a driver is required to still be technically in control at all times. That's not the same thing as having truly autonomous cars, like "Johnny Cab" from Total Recall.
Well, there's being conservative, and then there's ridiculous. The vehicle I saw was leaving probably five times the space that a responsible human driver would leave. It was way over in the right hand lane, which I believe was an exit-only lane (not that it matters I guess).
No doubt they will improve significantly over time, but the freeway system is not their playground for experimentation when these cars are obviously not at all ready for "prime time".
That's why those are in beta and mainstream stuff is shooting for 3-5 years from now.
It only took 9 years to go from launching monkeys into suborbit to launching men on the moon.
I believe making autonomous cars and humans play nicely together will prove more difficult than many people expect. If they cannot play nice then they will not be allowed to coexist on most/all public roads. Doesn't matter if the autonomous cars are better at driving. Humans vote in elections, cars do not. If there's enough pushback legislators will not allow them on public roads, at least for a long, long time.
Of course you can have all the automation you like as long as a driver is required to still be technically in control at all times. That's not the same thing as having truly autonomous cars, like "Johnny Cab" from Total Recall.
What you're describing is the difference between level 3 and 4 automation. Most automakers want to skip Level 3 since it requires human oversight which has been known to get complacent when they start placing too much trust in a car that's not rated for it.
Humans won't do anything about them in elections because everybody will eventually taste the forbidden fruit and realize they actually hate driving. Level 2 autonomy is widely popular.
That's why those are in beta and mainstream stuff is shooting for 3-5 years from now.
It only took 9 years to go from launching monkeys into suborbit to launching men on the moon.
We'll see. I do hope it's available at least by the time I'm ready to turn in my keys (which is a lot farther out than five years). I'd love to have an autonomous car take me wherever I want and drop me off at the front. No more hunting for a parking spot at the mall, at the football game, downtown on Friday night, etc.
My point is that it's not just a matter of technical prowess. There are social issues, legal issues, legislative issues... on and on. We'll have people messing with autonomous cars, maybe groups of kids or young adults trying to box them into some 'does not compute' corner case. Today I don't think we can even anticipate all of the issues that are going to crop up.
What you're describing is the difference between level 3 and 4 automation. Most automakers want to skip Level 3 since it requires human oversight which has been known to get complacent when they start placing too much trust in a car that's not rated for it.
But it's the leap to that truly autonomous level that's problematic in a lot of ways.
Take one very simple real world example. You merge onto the freeway and traffic in all lanes is going 10+ mph over the posted speed limit. What do you do? I sure as hell will not try to drive at the posted limit; that would be utter insanity. What should the driverless car do? If it complies with the law it's creating a hazard. If the manufacturer lets the car drive with the flow of traffic, does that open them up to liability for not following the traffic laws?
Human drivers in many cities will not tolerate a lot of cars on the freeways going at the posted limit. People have come to expect they can go 5-10 over and rarely, if ever, be pulled over. What do folks in the auto industry have to say about this?
"Is driverless car really smart enough to handle all situations?"
Nope. That's why they are not on the roads today. Cars aren't smart enough yet, infrastructure isn't prepared to prevent accidents by the cars that aren't smart enough, and the lawyers are smart enough to know that the infrastructure isn't set up for the cars that aren't smart enough.
I guess it depends where you live. It's certainly not they're not rare sightings out here either. So yeah, definitely on the road today and have been for some time racking up millions of miles driven. They're supervised still like a teenager on a learner's permit but they are indeed on the road.
We'll have people messing with autonomous cars, maybe groups of kids or young adults trying to box them into some 'does not compute' corner case. Today I don't think we can even anticipate all of the issues that are going to crop up.
I can see the criminal element having a field day with driverless cars. Late at night on less busy roads, on bikes robbing people at gun point. But like you mentioned I can see a bunch of ruly teens harassing car owners and not letting them drive ahead by keeping if front of their cars.
They are all over the roads here in Pittsburgh, but they are learning with a driver watching over their every move. They will be better than humans, but that isn't saying much to be honest. Look at all the deaths on our roadways. It would be cut dramatically if automation was implemented when ready. Probably 10 years away for highway stuff is my guess. Ford is investing a BILLION into it, so it is coming.
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