Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just playing devil's advocate here but...is this not the case any time you're a passenger in a vehicle? Riding shotgun, sitting backseat, on a bus, in an Uber, etc? Unless you're constantly thinking "At any moment I may have to grab the wheel from whatever imbecile is piloting this death wagon!"
I don’t trust a lot of other drivers but at least humans can tell that a tree just fell over the road and they might need to cut through the parking lot to get around it. The autonomous car would just “pull over safely” and call up a tow truck.
I don’t trust a lot of other drivers but at least humans can tell that a tree just fell over the road and they might need to cut through the parking lot to get around it. The autonomous car would just “pull over safely” and call up a tow truck.
Is that really would it would do or is that your baseless speculation?
Perhaps your car would customize for different neighborhoods. As you enter a bad area, your windows become tinted and a bass thumper kicks in so you don't look out of place. Because you don't have to watch the road, you can be looking in all directions for danger. You could have your hand on the trigger instead of the steering wheel. I would imagine by that time, all the cars would have cameras too, which would deter street crime in general. If the statistics bear out that a neighborhood is too dangerous to travel thru, then it is removed from the route grid for anyone that does not live or work there.
Think about this one, if you're a felon, maybe your car has restrictions. Maybe every car has fingerprint ID so they know who's driving the car, and every passenger in the car too, with some type of ID sensor system. The world becomes a lot harder for criminals to carry out crimes using a vehicle, they must rob or commit crimes on foot, closer to home.
Oh, so you like the idea of giving up your freedom and privacy for some false sense of security?
It's way too early in the process for this. Removing the ability for the human driver to take over in an emergency is dangerous, especially while the technology is still new. Not to mention the civil liberties implications. If only the computer can decide where the vehicle goes, who is controlling the computer? A big part of the idea behind the automobile is freedom and not being able to control it on your own is an anathema to that idea.
I used to be in favor of AI driven cars when I first heard about them, but then early on in the process google announced that they were going to remove human controls entirely and now GM is doing the same thing. They even call it a "significant step forward for self-driving" but I think it is the exact opposite. It makes me less open to the idea of buying one of these vehicles when they become available. I don't want my car telling me where I'm going to go and I don't want to be at the mercy of a computer if it malfunctions or receives instructions I did not authorize.
I agree to a certain extent but I disagree that Autonomous driving will never get to the point where it could replace human drivers with better safety and accuracy overall. We're still in the stone ages for this technology and the media is overestimating what it's capable of in the present.
I agree to a certain extent but I disagree that Autonomous driving will never get to the point where it could replace human drivers with better safety and accuracy overall. We're still in the stone ages for this technology and the media is overestimating what it's capable of in the present.
All getting carried away with this. The removal of the controls deals with the determination that given the human override does not work. They simply will not pay enough attention to situation to be in a position to cease control if a situation should arise.
The human however can be given as much control as desired. The little bus running autonomously in downtown Las Vegas actually has a human attendant with a game controller who can in fact control the vehicle when needed. And the units will almost certainly be voice responsive.
So the degree and the amount of control given to the riders is a design decision that can be most anywhere and may well be customizable. I would virtually guarantee that all of these vehicles will initially start out with a panic button that brings the thing to a quick halt. That will of course evolve over time...you would not for instance want an instant stop in a 120 mph tight spaced freeway lane that may eventually appear.
I enjoy reading these comments, lol. The system we have now in many big cities like LA for example, is dysfunctional. You have cars sitting for hours on the freeways. Some of the problem is human nature itself, we never quite lose the inner child, and driving is often an expression of that. You get in your car mad and it shows in your driving. People play little games with their driving, the dummy that drives 55 in the left lane and blocks traffic, the tailgaters, chronic speeders, lane swervers, drunks, phone people ect ect. In a congested traffic environment this means chaos and unpredictability on the road. In dense traffic areas, a grid controlled car sounds good to me, driving is stressful in these areas. City driving is generally unpleasant, country driving is enjoyable but sometimes boring.
An AI car looks at the road and follows it, just like a human would, but the computer is always at attention and focused on the driving 100% of the time, you can't beat that. Just had some guy rip out of his driveway without looking and almost creamed me last week, the dummy tore out of there without even looking at the oncoming traffic, the road was icy, he's spinning cookies all over the place on a major road with heavy traffic (McKinley). Let's get AI technology to these people fast, lol. Once it becomes more common, I think they should look up the accident records on certain people, those with lots of speeding tickets, OWI's, elderly drivers that are "slipping", high speed chase people ect ect and force them into an AI vehicle. They should be the first people to get one, lol.
You could send your AI car to run errands for you, pick up groceries, pick up your kids from school, you could have it drop you off somewhere which has expensive parking, tell it to go park somewhere 10 blocks away and have it come pick you up later, at a different location if you desire. With the cheap neighborhood rental thing I mentioned earlier, if you have 3 kids and they all need to go opposite directions at the same time, call for 3 cars to come take them 3 directions and the mileage costs would be the same as having one car do it and having them all be late. You could be doing other things with that driving time, something more productive or entertaining, you get to choose.
You could program the car to protect itself, so if anyone tries to mess with it, the car will start up and drive away. The car will recognize your jilted girlfriend with with the spray paint can, and get the hell out of there before she can slash your tires.
With your hands free and the seat not having to face forward, you might want a different window configuration on the cars, some people might want a gun turret style of cab. It would be awkward to be looking out the back window and see the driver behind you staring right back at you. I think people might prefer mirrored glass, or no windows at all, but maybe want a sunroof. Cars might come with coffee makers, microwave ovens, small lavatory sinks. The top of the seat could flip up and expose a toilet seat beneath. It's not that hard to fill tanks and drain them, or to have a dry john with just a plastic bag to get by in an emergency.
The poster that mentioned hacking has a valid point, a grid connected car is vulnerable to that. Every car would have to have a manual kill switch that overrides everything, and makes the car go into a controlled stop alongside the road, should something go wrong. Yes, a select few people at the big bro station, and hackers, would have the power to hijack your car and do whatever they wanted with it. That's scary, I understand why people would not like that aspect of it. I'm just throwing ideas out, I'm over 50 (barley) too, but haven't lost my imagination or want for something different, so long as it's better and gives people more choices. AI will start with the new cars learning how to cope with all the other non AI cars, no central command type stuff, but a gridlocked city at 5PM sure could use a brain.
They’re already on the road, this isn’t some pipe dream 50 years from now thing. It’s going to be sooner then later.
It's bad enough that drivers are to lazy to drive themselves let along need things like lane assistance etc.
then your sorry arse shouldn't have a DL. Stay off my lawn while your at it!
Oh, so you like the idea of giving up your freedom and privacy for some false sense of security?
There are some that will not, but in the end, majority are very willing to give up freedoms if they think its being done for their safety or security. Looking around at the country now proves that over and over again.
Ultimately it will be the insurance companies who will demand self drive become mandatory, I think it will happen within 15-20 yrs if not sooner, While they will not be able to demand full coverage insurance anymore, there will be so few accidents after the switch, it wont even be an issue anymore
The other problem is going to be older cars on the road and retrofitting them to be self drive, they cannot just force everyone to buy a new self drive car by a certain date. I think as self drive cars come out within the next few years, more people will start 'frowning' on those that insist on driving manually, they will be seen as presenting too much of risk with everyone elses safety on the road, kind of like non-smoking sections in restaurants used to be, eventually people came to dislike this, smokers were making it dangerous and unhealthy to eat there, now smokers in public are demonized, those who drive manually will probably be lumped together.
I do think removing controls now is premature and will be a big mistake from a marketing and consumer acceptance standpoint. Getting the public to fully accept and trust them will take generations. The older generation now will probably never trust them. The youner generation now may grow to trust them for the most part. But it will be the generations born into them in the future that will have full trust.
The world is definitely changing and the younger generations are being born into these new ideas and norms. Loss of privacy is another thing that worries me the most, cameras, recorders etc. and you don't even see them.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
