[jtjtjtjt]

Originally Posted by lvoc

You would be wrong there. I find the autonomous vehicle very interesting and follow it closely. They are well aware of the need some times to force action and have already programmed such in. I believe the google crashes to date have yet to involve one where the autonomous vehicle was at fault.

My opinion is still that long haul trucks are the first thing to go. Very high payoff and reasonably sterile environment. But the next one is tight urban with relatively slow speeds and lots of close action. Obviously the intent of the Google vehicle.

And I would not be surprised to see autonomous vehicles that will actually push people or come within inches of doing so.

You be correct about long haul trucks first. It could happen in stages. Perhaps we'll see big semi truck depots along major highways and humans drive the trucks to the depot, gets out of the truck, and then automation drives the truck to its destination depot and then a human jumps in the truck and drives the truck the last 10 miles to Walmart or wherever.

I could see 90% of the trucks on the interstate highways being computer driven with no driver. In 3 years? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?

[Vegas_Cabbie]

What happens when there is an accident involving a driverless semi? Who is around to deal with the aftermath? Or does it just George Jetson itself into a briefcase and remove itself from the scene?
If semis went fully driverless all at once, there wouldn't be an issue. But mixing human drivers with AI drivers will be messy.
Plus... This isn't for everyone in general... Not even close. Why do people buy sports cars? Diesel trucks? For many, driving is a passion.

[ScoopLV]

Same thing that happens when there is an accident with a semi piloted by a long-haul trucker -- insurance takes care of it. If driverless trucks are a bad risk, freight companies will pay higher premiums. But I doubt that will be the case.

As for "driving is a passion" -- people can find other things to be passionate about. Or we can designate certain winding, scenic roads "human drivers only." There are sections of Route 66, for instance, that we could remove the speed limit entirely. Sections that are long, straight, and largely abandoned.

[Vegas_Cabbie]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Same thing that happens when there is an accident with a semi piloted by a long-haul trucker -- insurance takes care of it. If driverless trucks are a bad risk, freight companies will pay higher premiums. But I doubt that will be the case.

As for "driving is a passion" -- people can find other things to be passionate about. Or we can designate certain winding, scenic roads "human drivers only." There are sections of Route 66, for instance, that we could remove the speed limit entirely. Sections that are long, straight, and largely abandoned.

^^^^^ lol

[oeccscclhjhn]

Letting an auto pilot fly a plane results in a deterioration of stills. Like when they have to take control during a stall warning, and do not know not to pull back on the stick. The same thing will happen with driver less cars.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by oeccscclhjhn

Letting an auto pilot fly a plane results in a deterioration of stills. Like when they have to take control during a stall warning, and do not know not to pull back on the stick. The same thing will happen with driver less cars.

It wouldn't make sense to have a human in the cockpit at all with freight. Attach the trailer and send it on its way. The whole point to autonomous trucks is removing drivers from the equation entirely -- no AC needed. More aerodynamic. Just a brick with an engine, wheels and a computer.

[Vegas_Cabbie]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

It wouldn't make sense to have a human in the cockpit at all with freight. Attach the trailer and send it on its way. The whole point to autonomous trucks is removing drivers from the equation entirely -- no AC needed. More aerodynamic. Just a brick with an engine, wheels and a computer.

Right... And as I said, if a human driver collides with a completely driverless semi, what then happens with the semi?
Do you think any of your ideas through?
Maybe the semi will turn into a decepticon and be like "My bad, guys" as it reassembles it's broken pieces and removes itself from the scene of the accident. Are they going to have to dispatch people to the scene from wherever the truck came from? This sounds like a mess.

Hobbyists aren't just going to disappear... And we will not have designated highways for humans to drive on lol.

Automation in cars is ALREADY making people more and more lazy/inadequate.

My Mercedes has blind spot warning, now I dont have to check it myself.
My Lexus has brake assist in case I dont feel like looking at the road while driving.
My BMW has head's up display because looking at my speedometer is just too taxing.
My Audi has three back up cameras so I personally dont have to look around for kids on bikes.

The age of dependence is already here... And trust me (remember, I'm surround by drivers for a living), it is making people into lazy, unreliable pieces of crap.

[ScoopLV]

You should change your screen name to "Epimetheus."

If the truck hits something, obviously it will be programmed to stop, clear the lane, call for help, and alert its parent company that it has been involved in a collision. There will be a black box and video from all angles. And, just like being hit by a human driver, insurance pays out as necessary.

If the truck kills someone, they're in no worse shape than if they were killed by a human trucker. Driving skill atrophy won't matter because there won't be a driver. Drivers will eventually be made redundant. This is something a computer can do just as well, if not better.

Computers aren't impatient, aggressive, or distracted. They aren't screwing around on their cell phone or yelling at the kids in the back seat. There are a lot of advantages to automated vehicles. We'll see how long it takes.

[Vegas_Cabbie]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

You should change your screen name to "Epimetheus."

If the truck hits something, obviously it will be programmed to stop, clear the lane, call for help, and alert its parent company that it has been involved in a collision. There will be a black box and video from all angles. And, just like being hit by a human driver, insurance pays out as necessary.

If the truck kills someone, they're in no worse shape than if they were killed by a human trucker. Driving skill atrophy won't matter because there won't be a driver. Drivers will eventually be made redundant. This is something a computer can do just as well, if not better.

Computers aren't impatient, aggressive, or distracted. They aren't screwing around on their cell phone or yelling at the kids in the back seat. There are a lot of advantages to automated vehicles. We'll see how long it takes.

Okay, this time try to focus...

By taking the semi driver away from the picture, you will need to add in diesel gas station attendants in order to fill the trucks up all across the country. Spotted... All over the map, they will be needed.
And what... That won't be good, so what if we somehow made all electric semis... That would be insanely expensive to produce and they too would need to charge somehow.
You can't just wipe everyone out of the picture... Beyond mental to even try to think that way.

[jtjtjtjt]

Originally Posted by oeccscclhjhn

Letting an auto pilot fly a plane results in a deterioration of stills. Like when they have to take control during a stall warning, and do not know not to pull back on the stick. The same thing will happen with driver less cars.

I'm looking at a 36 hour drive cross country in a couple of weeks. I really, really wish I had an autopilot car. Even if it was just for the interstates (which will be 35.5 hours of the drive). I'd like to be able to sit there and read my kindle instead of watching the road.