Posted on 05/05/2025 7:08:32 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
The average American adult will spend around three years of their life driving. If robots could take the wheel instead, well, think of all the Netflix shows we could stream instead. Don't forget work via wifi.
But the true benefit of a self-driving revolution will be in lives saved. And new data from the autonomous vehicle company Waymo suggests that those savings could be very great indeed.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
A best-case automatic driver will still make least-harm decisions in crises.
Motorcyclists will be less equal than others. Cars will stop when Central Authority says so or when a Mostly Peaceful (tm) protest comes to kill you.
“Lives saved” only means the ones they think matter.
I’m still wondering how the insurance is going to work.
He will have every incentive to insure his autonomous vehicles have low accident rates.
It will happen in some form. Think George Wallace. Those that get in the way and deny progress will get run over.
Last I checked I’m still under two tenths, but even the median guy is much faster than 2.5s
No thanks, i prefer the old fashioned way. Two hands on the wheel, look both ways, twice.
No thanks.
If saving lives was the primary motivation for adopting automated vehicles (AVs), then why hasn't any government taken the first step of even just mandating speed restrictors in new cars?
Technology isn't the limiting factor here. The first "self-driving" car was developed and tested in 1959.
Interesting home page you got there. You do not sound very libertarian.
My mother will be 93 next month and after having thankfully let her license expire a couple of years ago and not having a car while living with my sister, she has decided despite our counsel otherwise, that she is going to get a new car and her license again. Wants to be independent. In California it looks like they only require people over 70 to have their eyes checked periodically to maintain their license. At least if she has an in-car test she will fail that so she won’t be able to get a new license. If som how she passes at least self driving car may be available.
Driving for the most part is drudgery.
Airbus in a few cases has automation override pilots, with crashes resulting. Boeing also had "helpful" systems that also cause crashes. "Everything in moderation" -- the push should be to assist drivers (including monitoring drivers) to prevent those unfortunate experiments in inelastic collisions with other vehicles and stationary objects.
The auto industry has come a long way toward protecting passengers and drivers from collisions. Now it's time to providing help to avoid collisions.
If this was true our roads would look like a demolition derby.
Except that once you take the control of a vehicle out of the hands of the driver entirely, auto insurance wouldn't even cover the biggest risk exposure anymore.
With automated vehicles, crashes and other incidents would no longer be cover by auto insurance. Instead, they would become product liability claims against not only the auto manufacturer, but also the manufacturers of all the components that contribute to the movement of the vehicle.
Unlike auto insurance claims, defendants in product liability lawsuits are potentially subject to punitive damages -- which are UNINSURABLE. This alone will be the biggest obstacle the auto industry faces in putting these stupid cars on the road.
The only way it works is if auto manufacturers are fully indemnified against claims. No thanks.
A more likely scenario is that the auto manufacturers are fully indemnified because every vehicle is owned and operated by the government. No thanks -- to about the millionth power.
Germany’s almost to speed limiters. Friends of mine went over there last year and rented a car. It beeps like mad when you go over the speed limit.
“But the true benefit of a self-driving revolution will be in lives saved”
No, it will not.
NASCAR SEEMS ALSO TO BE ON THE ANTI-FAN BASE TRACK.
40 Cup events this year==
22.5% are on free TV
77.5 are on PAY TV.
Let’s see. If a car is parked 90% of the time and 10% of cars are on the road at any given time it makes total sense to use one of those 10%. Keep it on the road 100% of the time. What to do with the cars not in use? Eliminate them. Turn the garage into a playroom.
Granted rush hours will be busy but commuters will double/triple up while on the road(stops)when going to the same place/area.
Wouldn’t you want to turn your car in for a ROTH IRA? 3 wheelers to get around town is all you’ll need.
Gonna be awesome.
When my TV went digital, the shows froze and became choppy.
Think of it as analogous to cruise control, except that in this case it involves a LOT more cost in actuators and sensors.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.