3 hours ago, 240260280 said:

They should put dumb-driver-cars on rails or on fixed lanes as a first step.  Current computer technology has no right to be mixing it up with humans.

I think the same thing. I have no problem with driverless cars in their own sequestered tunnel lane where there is no interaction with the rest of the sentient traffic. Then to me it becomes more of a subway or railway system. There will still be accidents, but with less unpredictability comes less accidents.

Brains are great at both predicting and reacting. Computers can only react.

46 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

How confident in the technology are you going to have to become before you're willing to put your wife and infant kid in the back seat, close the door, and wave goodbye as they head off two states over to go visit grandma?

Haha, I have very little confidence in tech. It's useful, but buggy. I honestly can't see a car being 100% self driving. Legal issues alone would probably shut that whole operation down. I am very much a believer in mechanical devices over electronic ones that require a program to run.

Edited March 21, 20187 yr by rturbo 930

You see any type of tripper that's not paying attention, you can be extra careful, but the car won't pick up on it.

I think it is more of an underlying  cold-war issue pushing this.  The first country to master it is king of the castle thus the govt. buy in..... at the price of  how many citizens?

 

Here's what they should do.... Once the companies pushing for this believe they have this thing working, they should do a multi-year long road test. And the owners and employees of the companies involved should be required to be the test subjects.

In other words, the people who own the companies, developed the technology, and wrote the code should be required to use these things as their only form of automotive transportation for five years to prove it works correctly.

Prove how confident THEY are when they have to put their wife or husband and infant kid in the back seat, close the door, and wave goodbye as they head off two states over to go visit grandma?

Yes.  A mandatory autonomous cross country drive for the CEO....in the winter.

Double parking. 

I know I'm beating this topic pretty hard, but just to illustrate why all of this scares me..... Here's a situation we have all shared:

You're driving along minding your own business and see a car approaching the road you're on. He's got a stop sign so he's supposed to stop.

But as he approaches the intersection, something about him makes you start to lift your foot off the accelerator. You don't know what it is, but "you don't trust him."  You can't quite put your finger on it, but there's just something that makes you pause.... Even though he hasn't done anything wrong, there's something about the whole situation that makes you uncomfortable and you give him special attention. You've just got a funny feeling.

In most cases, everything turns out fine. He stops and waits for you and the whole thing was a false alarm. You put your foot back down and continue on your merry way.

But then there are the cases where you suspected he was going to do something stupid, and you were right... He pulls out in front of you or cuts across your lane a little too close for comfort.

The point is that you saw a non-logical feeling before something bad happened and reacted to it.

You can never program a computer to react to a feeling.

You THINK another driver MAY pull out in front of you.
You THINK a person MAY step off a curb.
You THINK another driver MAY change lanes.
You THINK another driver MIGHT turn left in front of you.
You THINK another driver MAY run a yellow or red light.

Not to mention things like you've made eye contact with the truck driver and are sure he knows where you are.

That's a motorcycle rider's thinking right there.  Trust know one.  If you wreck a bike it's your fault no matter what, with the exception of a frickin bridge falling on top of you.

31 minutes ago, 240260280 said:

Yes.  A mandatory autonomous cross country drive for the CEO....in the winter.

And here's the final test:

When they can get from one end of the country to the other without ever once pushing that "imaginary brake pedal"... You know the one that we all use when we aren't the driver?

If they can get completely across the country without ever pushing that pedal once, then they're done.

Just now, siteunseen said:

That's a motorcycle rider's thinking right there.  Trust know one.

It's true.

The other thing would be crossing a double line. If someone is at their mailbox and no one is coming I will move close to or even cross the double center line to give them lots of room. Same for dogs, kids etc.You can't program the car for this because it's against the law, but it sure is better than hitting a pedestrian!