Self driving versus real drivers

[HSC-ZL1]

Just an observation, but I am getting very worried about the intelligence of todays drivers. I have had an unbelievable amount of young drivers in econo boxes run within a couple of feet of my kit Cobra. Do they even have a remote idea that a 2200 to 2300 pound car with aftermarket brake kits, large sticky tires, and a heavy right foot will stop about 20 to 30 percent faster than their ****box. I think Jay Leno wrote about putting these idiots in self driving cars to save lives of real drivers. Is there any way to bring real driving back to the masses?

[jhv48]

I’m afraid that driving as we know it today will go the route of the horse and buggy. Self driving is the future. All the big auto manufacturers see vehicle subscription services as the future, where they maintain ownership, maintenance and insurance of the vehicle and we only rent it as we need it. Just think, homes of the future may not even need garages. When you need to drive somewhere, you order up a self driving vehicle on your iPhone and it picks you up and delivers you to your destination and then departs to be used by someone else. No parking problems. It’s basically pay as you go.
Not sure how they’ll deal with the likes of us who actually love cars and driving. Probably just let us die out.
JUST SHOOT ME NOW!

[Bartruff1]

Computers will be much more efficient and safer than distracted , impaired, reckless or ignorant drivers who are currently killing some 35 thousand people a year....

However I expect to be able to drive the rural roads as usual...just because....

[Gaz64]

There has been a pedestrian death recently, where a distracted driver was not overseeing the self driving vehicle.

Who gets blamed here, the vehicle manufacturer, (should be), the "driver" (should be)?

There's no way I'll EVER ride in a self driving car.

I've seen way too many problems with cars in my 38 years working.

[Ron61]

No computer driven car is ever going to be able to make the decisions that a competent driver can. Myself I don't want to even ride in one of those things. If as stated above we won't even own cars in the future than we should not have to have drivers license, or pay for registration or insurance.

Ron

[Tommy]

Once the number of networked self driving cars reaches a critical mass, politicians will begin to push human driven cars off the busiest highways as a way of increasing traffic flow without building new highways. And as the accident statistics grow in building the case that self driving cars are safer (not flawless), the public will embrace the change for teens, elderly, accident prone and soon anyone who wants to do something else other than drive while commuting to work. And that's when driverless Uber style transporation in an anonomous vehicle will become the norm in urban settings. People who drive thundering Cobras and the like will be seen as quaint reminders of a distant past when they gather in packs to travel the back roads where they are still allowed.

[Dwight]

Tommy I think you are dead on with your comment

[Dimis]

There are real ethical issues with this stuff.
People place far too much faith in computers and AI.
It will be our downfall.

The whole thing is scarier and more dangerous than we can even imagine. Self driving cars are just the tip of the iceberg.

I'm reminded of two movie scenes which could not be more prophetic when it comes to these topics:

https://youtu.be/4PLvdmifDSk

https://youtu.be/UkFAcFtBD48

Ps: sorry on phone cant embed YouTube pics just urls

[Bartruff1]

I think you are wrong Ron....I have no doubt that a FI race could be run in the very near future without any drivers....

I am under the impression that there have been some timed tests made comparing a driver and a driverless car on a race track....but I am not sure of that or the results..

Just as Watson can win in the trivia world (that is truly amazing), programing for operating a vehicle safely and efficiently will be a simple matter.

Yesterday Alexia told me she is done answering my stupid questions...

[eschaider]

Autonomous vehicles that you call to rent for a trip to wherever, whenever are a politician's dream public transportation — come true.

Ubiquitous public transportation to the exclusion of all other transportation alternatives has long been the unspoken and occasionally spoken goal of 'progressive' (liberal) politicians and their wrong headed constituents. This is just another way to implement the model without having to build tracks, train depots and/or boarding stations in close proximity to everyones home or place of business.

Best of all, it is cloaked in the progressive shroud of technological achievement and of course, science. I predict that while it starts in our lifetime it will not achieve broad based acceptance in our lifetime especially after a few more whoopses of the type we have already experienced.

The public's love affair with these 'breakthrough' technologies can turn sour faster than it warmed up to them. This is one more progressive idea that needs a little more vinegar ...


Ed

[Mark IV]

My other car is Autonomous but I never drive it................

[Tommy]

Originally Posted by eschaider

This is one more progressive idea that needs a little more vinegar ...


Ed

Ed,
I'll not argue sides of the political spectrum with you both because it is banned under forum rules and because it is a pointless exercise. But I will opine that the one thing politicians of all stripes have in common is trying to make constituents think they (the politicians) have solved a problem without demanding more taxes. A technological solution that packs cars more tightly on the roads and demands less parking space in crowded environs is a dream come true for politicians of all stripes because it addresses obvious problems and doesn't require politicians to raise taxes on individual voters. All they have to do is pass laws and regulations, and tax the transportation companies that are charging us to ride in their driverless cars.

[Tommy]

Originally Posted by Bartruff1

I think you are wrong Ron....I have no doubt that a FI race could be run in the very near future without any drivers....

Technologically - yes. But I believe they would quickly lose much of their audience......unless they require each driverless car to carry a passenger, much like driveless cars on the street do. They could even have contests or auctions to choose who gets to ride. And gamblers could bet on which rider would puke first or last. ... Watching driverless F1 cars would be like watching RC car races down at the mall parking lot. They're just bigger.

[Bartruff1]

Tommy, I am not talking about marketing , I am talking about technology... as you pointed out...Bart's Rule is that if it can be done, it will be done...but his second rule is who will be willing to pay for it...

No doubt you could have robots play football but would anyone watch ???? Doubtful...

The Segway was going to be transformational.....it wasn't...

This effort is not being driven by the governments, but by the private sector... sorry for the pun.


The technology already exists and is under commercial use ….your Citation X is full of collision avoidance technology...." PULL UP …..Pull up ".

[dallas_]

I'm completely for self-driving cars.

I wish every car on the road except mine was self-driving. I trust the technology much more than I trust the idiots around me trying to drive.

At least the technology is paying attention 100% of the time. Even in its early stage, it's far better than most drivers nowadays.

[Jaydee]

It reminds me of the movie Demolition man.
Subaru has a system that if you are parked against a wall and put it in drive, and you floor it, the car won't move. Many old dears would be saved from driving through shop windows. I hate it when they report that the car lost control. That's like saying, the gun went of by itself.
I remember a story about a guy who rented a motorhome with cruise control, he went out the back to make a cup of tea, and of course crashed and sued the company for not making it more clear. Society is getting dumber and dumber. The only safe car would be to instal a 4 inch knife in the middle of the steering wheel, boy would you try and drive carefully then. lol. People are feeling to safe in their cars.
JD

[120mm]

Originally Posted by Jaydee

It reminds me of the movie Demolition man.
Subaru has a system that if you are parked against a wall and put it in drive, and you floor it, the car won't move. Many old dears would be saved from driving through shop windows. I hate it when they report that the car lost control. That's like saying, the gun went of by itself.
I remember a story about a guy who rented a motorhome with cruise control, he went out the back to make a cup of tea, and of course crashed and sued the company for not making it more clear. Society is getting dumber and dumber. The only safe car would be to instal a 4 inch knife in the middle of the steering wheel, boy would you try and drive carefully then. lol. People are feeling to safe in their cars.
JD

I think you have something there.

So-called "safety improvements" in cars have inspired people to not develop skill, not care and not pay attention while driving the cars further and further past the car's limit.

I suggest that our society's fetish with "safety" has created a much less safe environment.

And statistics can be manipulated to say what you want them to say.

Mike Rowe has some good thoughts on this issue as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0RrhkMk2zY

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by 120mm

And statistics can be manipulated to say what you want them to say.

93.7% of all statistics are made up.

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by Tommy

Ed,
I'll not argue sides of the political spectrum with you both because it is banned under forum rules and because it is a pointless exercise. But I will opine that the one thing politicians of all stripes have in common is trying to make constituents think they (the politicians) have solved a problem without demanding more taxes. A technological solution that packs cars more tightly on the roads and demands less parking space in crowded environs is a dream come true for politicians of all stripes because it addresses obvious problems and doesn't require politicians to raise taxes on individual voters. All they have to do is pass laws and regulations, and tax the transportation companies that are charging us to ride in their driverless cars.

I think we are on the same page Tommy. In my experience the majority of professional politicians have never seen a tax they did not like or want to levy on us, usually for initiatives they were never spent for, like highway and bridge maintenance in California. Albeit we are tax extremeophiles out here.

All the points you make about parking space, vehicle density on the highways etc I believe are spot on. I am just glad I will hopefully be gone before these initiatives mature. However, before I go I will relish driving a Cobra whose genre represents very likely the best of the old times ...


Ed