I still want to know who & how will INSURE these vehicles.
Now-—YOUR personal driving record dictates how much you will pay in premiums.
IF one of these ‘vehicles’ hits me, WHO am I suing???
BTW- I drive a 1976 STEEL Chevy dually 1 ton truck——a driver less car will not be the winner in the war about gross tonnage.
I plan on ordering a replacement q-jet this evening for the 1979 K5 Blazer that I have been playing with when I can.
Now-YOUR personal driving record dictates how much you will pay in premiums.
IF one of these vehicles hits me, WHO am I suing???
The (un)safety record of automobiles made their adoption very controversial. The butchers bill is enormous; its just that the upside of the automobile quickly produces unstoppable momentum for the pervasiveness of automobiles which is the very air we breathe.But in reality, that butchers bill is still going on, and in consequence the safety of autopilot driven cars doesnt have to be perfect to for them to be adopted - in only has to be two or three times better than that of human drivers - and promise to become ten and even a hundred times as good in the foreseeable future. And if Moores Law becomes at all applicable, that is a realistic goal of the Iron Mike driver.
Traffic lights are century-old technology; they are basically clocks which communicate with human drivers via optics. The information which they communicate is at an extremely low rate. Just as the information from traffic signs is. Now suppose that traffic signals are converted from big, expensive signs to cheap microchips two-way communicating with each car. Possibly microchips embedded in the paint of the lane-demacation road stripes.
If Moores Law starts slashing the annual butcher bill of auto accidents a way will be found to insure autopiloted automobiles. No human driver has perfect attention and perfect concentration. If the safety record of Iron Mike transcends your safety record by an order of magnitude, and then two - you will pocket the savings in your insurance bill - and cheerfully sit down in a backward-facing recliner and zone out while you are safely and rapidly transported to your destination. It will be faster, because the idea of stopping at an intersection to wait for nothing but a clock ticking in a traffic light, or for an arbitrary stop sign, will remind you of the limitations your grandfather lived with rather than daily reality. Kids will look at traffic lights in museums - and giggle when their function is explained to them.