Driverless Cars- Scariest Thing Ever?

[Noofly]

Am I the only one completely freaked out by the thought of driverless cars? I can't even bear it when DH uses the self parking gadget on his car. How am I going to cope in a world of robot cars?

(lighthearted in that yes, I will obviously cope, but am I alone in thinking Eeek?!?!?)

Who chooses now? Those people will write the algorithms. Isaac Asimov is your guide. They should preserve life.

AFAIK, the current thinking on 'driverless' cars that we're going to see in the short term, is going to require a legal driver behind the wheel much as with pilots. They can take back control at any time.

Except for the cars without steering wheels

the govt likes the idea of driverless cars because it will make it easier for them to know the details of every single journey that car takes - and once they know those details it will a small step towards controlling what journeys that car is allowed to make.

Interesting, Alec.

As the cars will probably mostly (all?) be made by Google, I suppose the tracking device will be used to advertise things at us while we drive. You're going past a McDonalds? Cue noisy advert asking if you're hungry.

It's scary how much people just accept the supposed inevitability of a surveillance state. It's still possible to own a mobile phone without a tracker, avoid the Google search engine and use an ad-blocker and tracking-cookie-remover on the internet. It's about privacy, not having anything to hide. Will we also be able to avoid being followed by Google and the British or EU governments when we go for a drive?

Government messages could be transmitted to your car too. You're just going along in your car and you get "Don't forget to submit your tax return!" or "If you don't pay your tax owed your car will be stopped".

Rock which cars are without steering wheels?

There are mainstream marques doing autonomous.Don't be fooled by the mainstream 'Google Car' headlines.

It's still possible to own a mobile phone without a tracker

Unless your phone is a tin can with a piece of string there really isn't, as others have said don't be fooled by big bad Google there are bigger socail harvesters out there that many people willingly give up information to, and Google isn't the only manufacturer making headway in this field, as for your quip about no steering wheels I previously pointed out that it would not be until further in the future once society has welcomed the technology, as giddy pointed out the first wave is going to be like a standard car where the driver is the pilot and the computer takes over on long motorway drives etc.

sorry... what is a tracker? Do they come on flip phones?
Is there a smart phone that weighs under 90g?
Besides, I can just turn my phone off.

I can't even bear it when DH uses the self parking gadget on his car

Why, OP?

Funny the mention of aeroplanes... When that plane landed on the Hudson River it was a quick thinking human being, not automated technology that saved everybody.

But that's exactly the point, Iljkk. The plane got into that situation because of bird strike, not any failure of the automatic pilot, and it had a function that enabled the autopilot to be overridden. There would be exactly the same in a driverless car.

Driverless lorries.
shudders

In the child running into the road scenario, the driverless car would probably be far more able to stop, as it would not be exceeding the speed limit. It's response time would be faster and method of braking less likely to cause skidding. In the unlikely event it did have to swerve on to the wrong side of the road, the oncoming car would also be driving legally and react quickly, possibly even before the swerve, depending how they communicate. I think it will be safer for everyone.

Giddy

So put a number of people in wheelchairs to save one life? Why would the insurance company or the driver want this? They own the car/cover the costs, so better to have the 'guilty' party (the child) killed from their POV.
Why should Isaac Asimov decide?

londonrach

how over the top new cars are on electrics. Ive driven past almost brand new cars being mended due to theelectrics whilst mine (hopefully) keeps going. Driverless means more going wrong

Oh no, i fell for that electrics malarkey and didn't get an automatic. Regret it now.

How quickly would we lose the skills to drive ourselves... and then how would we cope when we went to low income countries where there were no driverless cars? Presumably we're talking about several generations before driverless cars became standard in Uk never mind rest of world.

Presumably we're talking about several generations before driverless cars became standard in Uk never mind rest of world.

Assuming they are actually cheaper, because shared, and therefore most people prefer them, it would make sense to eliminate non-driverless cars as quickly as possible. As soon as it was clear they were the way forward, maybe within five years, you could pass legislation outlawing the sale or importing of non-driverless cars, and mandating that ones over n years old be scrapped. (Some countries already require ten-year old cars to be scrapped, nothing to do with autonomous cars.) Within fifteen years of autonomous cars becoming popular it might be illegal for a human to drive a car on a public road.

theoretician They are unlikely to be shared much as most people need them at the same time (rush hour) and people hate sharing the space, which is why most car sharing schemes fail/get little used. They are also unlikely to be cheaper due to the electronics required to make them work (sensors et al) as well as the things for people inside to do (screens, laptop chargers swivel seats etc)
Banning old cars off the road will be very unpopular in the UK, what about the classic car scene?

Brain wave. Private cars make little sense for lots of reasons, anyway. And who would be responsible for maintenance on these vehicles. So everyone just books a service to arrive at their home when they need it, with private parking spaces no longer required as there would be a little fleet area of cars recharging every half mile or so even in village areas, and maintained by a central service. A pool of such vehicles at workplaces waiting to go at short notice. depending on avg demand. No vehicle need be your own. Costs go down because there would be only a small range of models with easily interchanged parts.

Banning old cars off the road will be very unpopular in the UK, what about the classic car scene?

Banning smoking in pubs was also very unpopular, it would not need an outright ban anyway.

Insurance premiums would go up for current cars as more driverless cars take to the road, there would be an inevitable tipping point where it became cost effective to do so.

I presume you drive around in a steam engine if your worried about new technology and the classic scene?

The car share scheme hasn't really taken off because it relies on a huge mass of cars. One of the reasons they have failed is because you have to go to designated points to pick them up(if they are available) once this new technology has bedded in the cars could be waiting where you want them, outside your house/office etc, and there would be an advantage of numbers wrt current schemes.

There is some sticking points around rush hours however.

Car sharing will never take off big time except in London, and any other areas which develop severe congestion. People buy cars to have their own space and music etc.
The point on rush hours is the same about train journeys, they are cheap if you are flexible about time but not rush hour. Looking at train tickets, Birmingham to London, a Monday in September.
£75 return per person arriving before 10am, £28 if I am happy arriving after 10am.

They're coming. Being trialled this year and next.

I agree London and other cities are going to be the primary targets, the theory is however that this will filter out, 2 people living in a satallite town, one is working early shift the other working lates, the car could take the person doing the early and go back and pick up the late, possibly picking up someone on there way to drop them off on their morning shop, with the inevitable lower insurance policies that will be introduced to try and kickstart driverless cars it could become feasible with a little shift in mindset.

Personal space is an issue, music will either be a docking system as what is used now or you scan through a dab radio to find what your after. It's just a shift in mindset that isn't going to be instant but will slowly play out (iysim)

As for rush hour, there is mathematical evidence that driverless cars will help alleviate some of it because of the constant driving speeds of the cars. Once it takes hold infrastructure re design will take hold to alleviate it a little more, but on a pure numbers basis rush hour isn't ever going to go away until as you say people are truly flexible.

Sorry posted to soon, this is the sort of thing driverless cars can reduce and this would help with rush hour traffic.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=Suugn-p5C1M