Self-driving cars will change everything

The Week ^ | March 17, 2015 | Marc Ambinder

[skinndogNN]

The first time one of these things hits a 10 year old kid chasing after a ball, there’s going to be a backlash.

But I wander if it will cut down on DWI’s?

[cripplecreek]

I sometimes go places that can barely be called roads. Wonder how they’ll do with those.

[goodnesswins]

Yeah...and the oceans will rise 10 feet...and the Feds will take care of you...etc. etc. Etc. Blah...blah...blah

[dainbramaged]

Meanwhile I was behind a “smart car” yesterday - those should come with a funeral wreath attached at the factory.

[isthisnickcool]

[Political Junkie Too]

Imagine ordering a pizza online, paying for it with a credit card, getting a receipt with a code on it, 30 minutes later a driverless car pulls up to your home and texts you, you open the door and enter your code into the locker and take out your hot pizza. Close the car door and it drives away to the next delivery or back to the shop.

You are a small business (say an auto repair shop) and you need a part from another business across town. They put the part in a driverless car and send it over to you. You send the car back.

You own a bar and you have a customer who is too drunk to drive. You put him into one of your driverless cars and send him home. The car returns to your bar on its own.

-PJ

[longfellow]

They will have to disengage the turn signal for the assholes in California.

[exPBRrat]

I’m calling BS on these self driving cars.

[Zeneta]

I will NEVER EVER give up my control of my car.

I love driving.

I love highways and city streets.

I love racing cabbies in Manhattan.

I love the freedom that seems to be uniquely American.

I love parallel parking my car in a space that everybody I’m with say’s “It can’t be done”, there’s not enough room.

As I prove them wrong, over and over again.

[whinecountry]

Thanks for taking Johnny Cab! I hope you enjoyed the ride!

[Hoffer Rand]

I’ve always said their slogan should be “built for people who don’t understand physics.”

[Vince Ferrer]

It’s gonna be interesting for insurance companies.

Google just announced they are getting into the insurance business. If they can make a self driving care that has less accidents, insurance will be a gold mine.

[VanDeKoik]

I will never own one.

Self-driving = the state is.

[qam1]

It won’t be a driverless car that does all that, it will be a pilotless drone

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

If I were still commuting daily, I’d absolutely want one of these. Let the robot deal with traffic congestion.

[Advil000]

Possible someday perhaps, but the decision making required to handle every conceivable thing that can happen in a year of driving isn’t something that software and sensors are going to be able to deal with any time soon.

You notice we don’t have autonomous robots yet for basic chores? Once we have those, THEN you might start seeing roads full of self-driving cars.

Until then? It’s just like the other government solar projects... a money pit and pure fraud.

[Idaho_Cowboy]

It’s gonna be interesting for insurance companies.
Google just announced they are getting into the insurance business. If they can make a self driving care that has less accidents, insurance will be a gold mine.

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It's the liability that bothers me. You can't charge a computer with manslaughter so when one of these driver-less car kills a pedestrian who is going to take the fall. The ‘driver’ who wasn't driving or the builder of the car?

Maybe we could bring back the stick shift pickup truck and make driving fun again.

[oldtech]

I had about forgotten about Johnny Cab. Thought the little robot pimp in that movie was pretty cutting edge,too.

[catnipman]

Well, probably not everything:

[nascarnation]

Is that the Ferrari series that runs as support series at some of the Formula 1 events?