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Vehicles equipped with the automation are already experiencing large reductions in accident related costs according to insurance industry reports. As much as it probably pains people to hear, computers do a much better job at operating equipment than humans ever could. Humans are better at monitoring the "bigger picture" stuff, the stuff that computers have a hard time anticipating.
I'm all for that stuff. Anything that reduces driver error count me in, including speed governors and kill switches that shut down engines when somebody turns on a smart phone
Vehicles equipped with the automation are already experiencing large reductions in accident related costs according to insurance industry reports. As much as it probably pains people to hear, computers do a much better job at operating equipment than humans ever could. Humans are better at monitoring the "bigger picture" stuff, the stuff that computers have a hard time anticipating.
Excellent point(s)!
My college-age son was recently going on about how excited he was for self-driving cars and how much safer they would make the roads. I countered with how frequently computers are known to fail or encounter bugs and he looked at me with that "you're joking, right" look. He asked me which was less likely to be distracted and make rational decisions based on specific facts (such as rate of speed, distance, etc.) and I had to admit, I would trust a computer over probably 1/3 of the drivers I encounter most days.
I had to admit, I would trust a computer over probably 1/3 of the drivers I encounter most days.
It should be a lot more than 1/3.
Even if you consider yourself a good driver, you are not 100% focused 100% of the time. A computer is, and it's able to sense what's happening all around you simultaneously.
And the benefits of self-driving cars only increase as you get more of them on the road, as the behavior of the other vehicles on the road becomes more predictable.
My college-age son was recently going on about how excited he was for self-driving cars and how much safer they would make the roads. I countered with how frequently computers are known to fail or encounter bugs and he looked at me with that "you're joking, right" look. He asked me which was less likely to be distracted and make rational decisions based on specific facts (such as rate of speed, distance, etc.) and I had to admit, I would trust a computer over probably 1/3 of the drivers I encounter most days.
There will be a point where the biggest risk is actually the driver taking over and controlling the car manually. With all the automation, after a decade or more, people will lose their "driving" skills and driving manually will actually contribute to more accidents.
Even if you consider yourself a good driver, you are not 100% focused 100% of the time. A computer is, and it's able to sense what's happening all around you simultaneously.
And the benefits of self-driving cars only increase as you get more of them on the road, as the behavior of the other vehicles on the road becomes more predictable.
Plus redundancy can be built into the system. 3 systems, and you can throw out the one that (if any) that doesn't agree.
Electronic devices have a much higher MTBF than their mechanical counterparts.
Even if you consider yourself a good driver, you are not 100% focused 100% of the time. A computer is, and it's able to sense what's happening all around you simultaneously.
And the benefits of self-driving cars only increase as you get more of them on the road, as the behavior of the other vehicles on the road becomes more predictable.
I agree. My son was explaining that there are two competing designs, one where the self-driving car is independent of all other cars and one where they network so if the car way up in front brakes, all the cars behind it know and are able to slow down in a more controlled fashion. But either way, the more the better.
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