AIBU to think we don’t want driverless taxis?

Generally an autonomous car will be watching 360 degrees at about 15 frames a second. Whether the car is moving or not.

It won't blink.
It won't glance away to look at it's phone.
It won't tire.
It won't wear out.

Obviously if you end up getting into it's field of vision before it can react (which it would do close to the speed of light) then it's going to hit something. But then so would a human driver with a slower reaction time (assuming they are able to react in the first place).

Critically, it would operate within it's limits at all times. Which isn't true of any human driver over the course of their career. (Or in the cases of some, in teh course of a minute).

That's where we were 10 years ago, when insurers started gently looking into things. At that time, there was a vague feeling that if a driverless car were to ever pass a driving test it would be interesting to deny insurance.

As an aside, it's interesting that the UK driving test doesn't just test for technical ability. Hence why an autonomous car can't pass.

Plenty of faulty humans crash too!

I think they’re a great idea. The fewer human drivers there are on the roads, the safer they will be imo.

The self-driving option isn’t legal in the UK, so it’s not on in Tesla’s & no way of turning it on (although the car is very techy & practically drives itself anyway!)

My last boss had a Tesla which had a self driving option. It was capable of leaving a parking space and picking you up in a car park. No idea if it was disabled or relied on drivers not using it, I rather tuned out the more he banged on about it.

A quick google suggests it's called "smart summons" and limited to private roads and 6 metres in travel in the UK.

Does the UK have a self driving option on the newer electric cars yet? I’m in the US and have a lot of friends using self drove on Tesla and love it.
I’ve used driverless in San Francisco, Las Vegas and LA. It’s terrific.

Ive used driverless taxis (Waymos) many times whilst in the u.s. In Atlanta you get them via uber, but most other states that have them you use the waymo app.
So much safer for lone women, plus no idle chat and no tip option.
The first time I used one it didn't feel weird at all, just normal.
I always pick the driverless option now if available.

Given how often I’ve felt unsafe in a taxi I say bring them on. I’ve been leered at and propositioned, forced to listen to a racist rant from a driver who had clearly just been a sex tourist in Thailand, ripped off by a driver ‘getting lost’, and had to suffer more than one aggressive driver.

I choose the driverless taxi.

Meh, I welcome driverless taxis. Fed up of crappy driving, shitty attitudes, scammy drivers, I would trust a robot much more.

People will losing their jobs is not a good enough reason to hold off getting driverless taxis into use. There is always whining when new technology is utilised. There was fearmongering about automation in factories, computers, AI, by people working in those industries when they were launched. When the umbrella was invented cab drivers were losing money as prior to umbrellas people would hail a cab when it rained. They created a smear campaign and rumours that umbrellas were unlucky and evil. It has always happened, we need to just embrace the new technology and adapt.

Careful. Facts will get the thread pulled.

We have live data from the USA. It's safe. We need them to be on the road "live" to get real life data. They'll be fine

Luddites

Pales into nothingness when you consider how many thousands of clips of human drivers fucking up there are out there.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZN8YcKXVt/

A compilation of Waymo cars attempting to murder their passengers 😂

I'm just hoping that the technology is there if I ever get to the stage that I can no longer drive.

I live in SF and take a Waymo on average once a week. They have been around for 5 years now, initially with a safety driver, then without a person but driving very cautiously, and now they drive more like people but are still vastly safer.

You just get used to seeing them and it becomes the norm, although I grant you the first time I took one I found it deeply weird. Now it's my preference over a cab or Uber as the driving is much better plus I don't have to make conversation with a racist, creepy or conspiracy theory spouting driver.

Interestingly we started out with two companies, Waymo and Cruise, and Cruise eventually had their operating license removed because they had too many safety violations. I have not and will not be getting in a Tesla self-driving cab as I don't have a death wish.

Good, in that case I’d be happy to get in! You’ve sold it to me 😂

There'd be a support system. Waymo works wells in the usa

That’s the point, he couldn’t even get out of his own vehicle due to not knowing how to override it, so I don’t imagine the average Jo would know how to manually override an unmanned car they were unfamiliar with if it was locked!!!

It wasn't a self driving car. It was his personal EV.

He could have gotten out. There is always a manual override, he just didn't know where it was

I just hope I have the luxury to choose not to get in. Hopefully you won’t get stuck in one! Like that DJ - was it Scott Mills? Got locked in his electric car and missed his flight 🥴

I definitely want it. Think how many lives could be saved if all cars were self-driving.

I understand the employment concerns, but don’t think I could choose to sacrifice that many people just to keep drivers in jobs.

You may as well ask how people called each other before mobiles, we were allowed landlines back then, they don't exist now.

You've rather made the point for me

You can see who else is in before you go in. The waymo is definitely going to know if someone has forced their way in

You may as well ask how people called each other before mobiles, we were allowed landlines back then, they don't exist now.

Ditto walking; soon our summers will be exceeding the 35 degree heat we saw this year, regularly and for longer. In winter we will be flooded and snowed under with power cuts. Just as we all give up our personal transport. I wonder, who will profit from all of this? It won't be the old taxi driver waiting for the tech to become obsolete so that he can finally buy one and turn it into a deathtrap.