Posted on 06/08/2016 2:28:43 AM PDT by equaviator
>>General Motors favors a regulatory approach requiring autonomous vehicles to be equipped with steering wheels and brake pedals.
And tampon dispensers.
We are within ten years of self-driving cars being the trend. I think within twenty years....almost no kid will be taking driver’s ed and that less than one-half of twenty-year-olds will have a license.
And in ten years we will still be within ten years of self-driving cars being the trend.
The problems with complete, door-to-door self-driving cars are so immense, they may never be solved.
Would you trust your life to a self-flying airplane that had no pilot onboard? That is a relatively benign environment, where the airports are very tightly controlled, the standards for runway and taxiway markings are extremely high, the maintenance level is immaculate, and yet we still haven't even tried to remove the pilot from the cockpit.
The problems with surface streets are infinitely more severe. Potholes. Snow. Faded lane markings. Pedestrians. Construction zones.
Self-driving cars will for the next 30 years or more be nothing more than an intelligent cruise control for freeway use.
Autonomous cars will be here sooner than we think.
There will always be drivers until we get rid of lawyers ...
For the foreseeable future, they will be limited to the interstate system of limited access roadways. To get on or off will require manual control, brakes and steering.
Not an accelerator???
Yes, that would be needed as well
Doesn’t matter to me, I will never buy another GM again.
GM is not at issue here.
What is at issue is developing a standard applicable to all vehicle manufacturers and the road ways and guidance systems. Common protocols that exist among all vehicles must be hammered out industry wide before there can be any such vehicles.
Last year, the German gov’t gave the transport ministry three years to come up with the draft for allowing unmanned vehicles on the German autobahn system. Note the word “draft”. They’ve been given enough indication by Mercedes that their vehicle will be ready around 2020 to sell to the public (no guesses on the price but it’ll probably over $75k). I saw a demo of the car last week on German news, it’s routinely test-driven now on the autobahn with a guy in the seat but the computer handles everything).
What I see happening is that Germany will likely be the first country to approve this business, and the first country to note someone’s untimely death due to the autonomous vehicles. But about a year into approval there...there’s going to be significant pressure on US car makers to produce and for the fifty states to approve some kind of standard.
As Mary Barra (the Hillary Clinton of GM) said, there should be driver controls in these new autonomous vehicles. What GM is not saying however, is that they intend to eventually get rid of those features too, and you can’t argue with “progress” when it’s the first female Chairman and CEO of GM who is telling the American people that it’s for their own good. GM’s “Voice of the Customer” is not really asking for any of this. It’s been adulterated and tailored to suit the Democrat Party’s agenda. The Voice of the Customer has been ventriloquized for appearances sake and the Obama administration is making the ‘dummy’ talk.
Oh, I don’t know. I’d take a straight-drive over an autonomous any day.
More coffee, please.
I'd like to know what he is basing that claim on... An independent list/assessment I read says GMs plans for an autonomous vehicle in 2020 (if the behemoth can stay on schedule) places them around 5th.
Personally, I like to drive. Last week I did a 1700 mi round trip as sole driver, without even bothering to put on cruise control. I'm not 100% convinced autonomous or assisted driving (eg. Tesla) is a good idea. Sure, it helps take the tedium out. Yes it can act like a safety net, recognizing drowsy drivers, helping avoid accidents, etc. But human nature being what it is, I think many people would start to rely on the tech to bail them out. They'd get even more impaired by drugs/alcohol, more distracted by phones, push harder while more sleepy... This will only be a net benefit if the tech capabilities can outpace the human weakness/stupidity. A tall order.
In Germany, on the immaculate Autobahn, yes it can work and work well. As I said, a self steering cruise control.
But on surface streets, door-to-door? No, the Merc will not be able to navigate city streets or rural two lanes without driver intervention.
This article sums up some of the almost insurmountable problems with door-to-door autonomy in automobiles, and it is door-to-door that I am talking about.
Where's the lane? Self-driving cars confused by shabby U.S. roadways
You’ll KNOW they are serious when they start bribing Congress to pass laws granting 100% liability exemption from any damages caused by autonomous vehicles.
can’t let the market decide, plus we invested all that money in horse and carriages that will be obsoleted otherwise....it’s our competitive advantage.
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