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I know self driving cars are supposed to be coming in the very near future. But I question if self driving cars will ever be the "norm." I remember when solar power was supposed to be the "norm" 30-40 years ago, and that never really took off. I think autonomous cars are going the way of solar power.
Self driving cars will be required to use a GPS to navigate. I "ass"-ume that means you will have to enter an address in the GPS (either by hand or voice activated) to every stop you intend to take on your route. Wow. I have used 3-4 different GPS systems and they leave a lot to be desired in terms of being able to customize your route.
This past weekend I was in Newport, RI, and I was using a GPS to help me navigate on the one way, (many times unmarked) streets. On more than one occasion the GPS told me to take a right or left on a street that:
1: Didn't exist. I would have been taking a left or right onto a sidewalk into a building.
2: Was a one way street, going the opposite direction. That is dangerous. Being a human, I saw that the street was one way, but the opposite direction. Would a self driving car GPS system notice it? My GPS didn't.
Are the GPS systems in self driving cars better than GPS systems we use now in our human driven cars? They better be, because right now GPS systems are not fool proof at all. Not even close.
Another thing. Will self driving cars ever really be able to drive in snow? I really do not see that happening. I live in an area of the country that gets on average 125 inches of snow a year. Driving in snow is treacherous. I am sorry, I just don't see self driving cars being the "norm." It sounds good on paper, but in reality there are just too many variables to overcome.
BTW, what about car insurance on a self driving car? If I am not driving the car why should it be my fault if my car gets in an accident? It should be the car's fault. What about driver's licenses? Why should I have one if I am not driving the car. If I am required to have one in order to "take over the car" in an emergency, how well do you think I will be able to drive? Will one be required to drive normally for a few years to get used to driving before being allowed to be in a self driving car?
They don't use just a GPS, but a variety of road sensors and cameras, and yes, the GPS mapping used is going to be better than your standard run of the mill Garmin and the routes will continue to improve as more people use GPS and that data gets uploaded and communicated by the car and other companies that gather app data like Google. It's said these cars will be network connected, and the introduction and proliferation of 5G is going to be a big part of what is going to make these vehicles work.
Apparently they have "levels" of autonomity, and the teslas available now are only level 2 autonomous. They hope to have level 4 or level 5 autonomy running on test vehicles in larger numbers going forward.
I think it's safe to say 5G is probably the most anticipated technology upcoming, so much so that numerous tech companies are trying to fast track it's introduction and proliferation.
Self driving cars will be required to use a GPS to navigate.
These cars will have redundant systems, GPS being one of them and they will be able to operate independent of the GPS. GPS can precisely give the car it's global position and may be helpful in situations like snow on the ground so it's knows where the road surface ends, humans have same issue.
I "ass"-ume that means you will have to enter an address in the GPS (either by hand or voice activated) to every stop you intend to take on your route. Wow. I have used 3-4 different GPS systems and they leave a lot to be desired in terms of being able to customize your route. Other than that the actual driving of the car is completely autonomous.
Internal mapping and other systems will build in redundancy in case of failure of something like GPS. Assuming failure of everything you would be able to tell it make a left at next intersection etc.
Quote:
This past weekend I was in Newport, RI, and I was using a GPS to help me navigate on the one way, (many times unmarked) streets. On more than one occasion the GPS told me to take a right or left on a street that:
1: Didn't exist. I would have been taking a left or right onto a sidewalk into a building.
2: Was a one way street, going the opposite direction. That is dangerous. Being a human, I saw that the street was one way, but the opposite direction. Would a self driving car GPS system notice it? My GPS didn't.
That's not a GPS problem but a mapping issue. If you have 100 million cars on the road providing real time mapping data every car in the world know where every pothole in the road is let alone what streets exist.
In 2 or 3 decades when every car on the road is computer driven stop signs, one way streets and direction of travel in a lane go away.
It's a Dream come true for Lawyers & Insurance Companies
What is going to happen is there will be a long debate about the rules of the road. Do you hit the kid that just ran out in the road or hit the tree killing the driver?
In any event accidents will be greatly reduced because the computer driven car that has a near instant reaction time will be able to avoid hitting the kid in the first place.
I enjoy driving and don'r want to be driven. I believe it will be decades before these things are in use.
I would agree, it's not a matter of the tech being available but the practicality of it. Over the next ten or fifteen years this tech will become more mainstream and once the public becomes comfortable with it they will mandate it's availability in all new cars. 15 or 20 years out from then when the majority of cars can be computer driven a mandate to use it will come about.
In 2 or 3 decades when every car on the road is computer driven stop signs, one way streets and direction of travel in a lane go away.
I just don't see there being only computer driven cars on the roads in 2-3 decades. The infrastructure required to make roads safe for self driving cars would be too expensive in the United States. For many states (especially RI, NY and PA), potholes are barely fixed correctly. On my local news a month ago it said it would take the city of Syracuse 117 years to pave all of its roads:
"Most years, the city [Syracuse] can afford to pave between two and three miles of road. At that rate, it could take up to 200 years to get to the whole city."
What about car insurance companies? Are they going to go down without a fight? Who will be responsible for an accident? The owner of the self driving vehicle or the manufacturer of the self driving vehicle?
What about driver's licenses? In 2-3 decades will humans no longer be required to know how to drive a car? Will self driving cards be so foolproof that a human will never have to take over driving in an emergency?
I just don't see self driving cars being the norm, not even in 2-3 decades. Just my unpopular opinion.
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