Self-driving cars--seriously?

[glenn bradley]

My opinion is starting to shift. I originally felt as you do; learn to drive or don't drive. Unfortunately, there is too much money in letting poorly trained morons operate motorized deadly weapons (I can do a lot more damage in one shot with a car than I can with a .45). This being the reality it is probably better that those who cannot drive, ride in a car that can.

[Brian Henderson]

The problem is, there are a lot of people, myself included, who simply like to drive. We are not going to give up that autonomy for anything.

[Pat Barry]

Self driving cars can't be any worse than drunk drivers, teenagers or adults texting while driving, etc. At least they won't be distracted by nonsense when they are proceeding along, plus, they will know where they are going and will do expected things when issues arise. Bring them on.

[Art Mann]

It would not be good to attempt to move into the right lane if there is a big truck next to you.

I'm not a fan of them, but I think they are going to happen. Still a lotta bugs to work out yet.

Art: I'm not following you. Why would the designer tell the car to "slow down to maintain a safe distance" with a car tailgating behind me? There are other alternatives, like "move to the right lane".

[Bert Kemp]

True Malcolm but if an idiot on a motorcycle hits you he's more likely to kill himself then you, on the other hand if an idiot in a car hits me I'm a goner.

I drive a car. Everyday I have motorcycles cut me off, pull into an already small following distance in front of me, split lanes, drive on the shoulder, pass at double the speed limit, and ride wheelies while standing on the seat in the HOV lane. Where's the autonomous motorcycles?

I saw a trivia note the other day, that car ownership will plummet by 2030 as large segments of the population switch to ride sharing and autonomous car services to meet their routine needs. Get used to it.

As for the autonomous cars, they will evolve. If you can foresee a potential problem today (GPS failure or viruses), developers will formulate a solution.

And just for giggles, maybe your taxes will be reduced? Autonomous cars can 'platoon'; humans need ~2 seconds of reaction time, or about 120' spacing at 70mph. Computers could set up a comm link to the car at the head of a platoon (>2 cars 'linked' in a lane). If the first car brakes, the last car is braking in 8-10 miliseconds. This allows safe following distances of ~2' at 70mph. Result is higher speeds, more cars on a given road, faster commutes, less road construction, and lower taxes. (Okay, Okay!! I've met a politician and this is just a dream - - at least the lower taxes part.)

[Dan Friedrichs]

For those of you asking the "Well, how will it know what to do if....?", or "What if....goes wrong?" - type questions: do you really think you're the first to think of those situations? I don't mean that rudely, but some of the most valuable companies in the world (Google, Apple, Tesla) are spending billions of dollars on this - if there were a show-stopping problem that a layman could anticipate with 10 seconds of thought, presumably they've also thought about it (and devised a solution)...

We've gotten acclimated to the risk of driving to the point we don't realize how dangerous it is. The lifetime odds of dying in a car accident are something like 1:600. That's WAY too high for my comfort. Self-driving cars will drastically reduce that, as virtually ALL accidents are the fault of driver failures.

You "simply like to drive"? I really like to shoot guns, but I don't get to do it in the middle of a congested metropolitan downtown - I go to a private range or something similar. That's where you'll be doing your driving, in the future, if you want.

[Malcolm McLeod]

True Malcolm but if an idiot on a motorcycle hits you he's more likely to kill himself then you, on the other hand if an idiot in a car hits me I'm a goner.

This makes me feel so much better - - knowing I'll probably survive the accident someone else is going to cause. Who needs manners or skill; we've got air bags.

[Matt Meiser]

Reminds me of the horseless carriage debates.

[Mike Circo]

I won't believe the driverless car hype until I see one drive in a Chicago winter.
6:00 am in January, still pitch dark, it's been snowing for 4 hours and the plows haven't been out yet. A two lane road with no shoulder covered in snow so you can barely make out the street from the ditch. Snow is freezing on all surfaces, you must keep the wipers on high, the inside blower on hot on the window to keep a small area open to see. Oncoming headlights illuminate the falling snow and create glare on your windshield. There is a glaze of ice under the snow in the tracks, but not in the untraveled areas so you get better traction off the centerline a bit.

When a "driverless" car can handle that and other similar weather events I see here year round (Raging downpours, fog, condensataion on the windows, low angle sun right in my face... etc.) only then will I believe it. As far as I hear, they are testing these in more fair weather states, not in really bad conditions.

[Pat Barry]

Reminds me of the horseless carriage debates.

What do you remember about those old timer?

[Rick Potter]

All the gas stations locally sell fuel that is 10% ethanol. Blood alcohol levels for drunk drivers start at .08.

Can a car get a ticket for drunk driving?

[Matt Meiser]

I thought you had a plug in electric Rick?

[Keith Outten]

Who will be responsible when a there are mechanical or electrical problems that cause an accident? It won't be the owner, or the insurance company that's for sure. If the car manufacturer is responsible can you imagine how much the price of a new car will be. Maybe this is part of the plan to make personal transportation to expensive for the middle class.

[Malcolm McLeod]

I won't believe the driverless car hype until I see one drive in a Chicago winter....

Cameras (incld infrared), ultrasonic sensors, and radar need much, much smaller 'view' apertures than our heads. And so, require much lower heating demand to keep them clear. They ignore glare too.

Lane keeping? Embed a mag tape in the road.

As for traction, wait 'til you see this new-fangled thing called "ABS". It seems that a microprocessor, with appropriate sensors and actuators, can actually apply the brake more effectively than a human.

If we're not careful, any day now cars will have stability control, traction control, steering 'nudges' when we get too close to the lines, maybe even drowsy/distracted driver detection? ....Surely it won't be better than a human?

Me, I drive 114 miles every day and can't wait to be able to sleep, or read, or work on my way to work/home.

Edit: By the way, anybody look in their engine bay lately. Still see a mechanical linkage from the steering wheel to the wheels?? ...Wonder what happened to it? Could it be some of that CPU voodoo doing the steering? Wonder who's going to pay for it when I hit something after all four of the redundant processors and the actuators fail?

[glenn bradley]

The problem is, there are a lot of people, myself included, who simply like to drive. We are not going to give up that autonomy for anything.

Absolutely agree. Drivers who can prove that they are aware of how to properly operate a motor vehicle should have the option ;-) A free (the insurance companies could fund this out of what they spend on paperclips) test drive every 3 or 4 years should be adequate perhaps with shortening intervals as the driver ages.