Posted on 10/30/2015 4:47:08 AM PDT by IBD editorial writer
As interest in self-driving cars accelerates, so have questions about their safety and reliability. The idea is that self-driving cars will be safer because they will make far fewer mistakes. But can people trust computer algorithms to guide them safely through incredibly complex and ever-changing road conditions?
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Actually I can see a plausible scenario where people will be identified by their cell phones, including their location. That exists, both by actual ID, and by demographic by following your political activity.
Once Govco has ID’d you and your location, it would be simple to kill you with a driverless car and make it look like an accident or a malfunction.
I love computers! I worked in IT for 30 years. Computers have automated so incredible tasks, supported by millions of lines of code and teams of IT people. Trust it with my life to drive my car? Ah, no.
Give me more advanced information - sure. I could use some infrared / night vision technology. Give me the sensor data of distances and vehicle locations.
But again, trust a computer with my life - never.
The blind spot monitoring is also very nice as it only gives visual and audio signals vs. taking action.
The "leaving the lane" function is about useless.
Traction control can be useful under the right conditions but should require user action to turn it on vs. being always on unless the user turns it off.
I hate having "turn the engine off at a stop" function and the fact that it has to be manually turned off after each start - at least the button is readily accessible and it is punched every time I start up.
I also hate the "stability control" which can hit an individual tire's brake to get you out of some problems - if it kicks in while one is going over gravel/sand etc., and or on the brink of a drop off (that the car is blissfully unaware of) it can lead to disaster by screwing the pooch with a driver's attempts to maintain control under a dicey condition - only way to turn mine off is to enter the menu available from the steering wheel and disable the ESP option - it automatically enables at the next start.
Under specific conditions, some of the "enhancements" can be very useful, but under the wrong conditions, they can cause more harm than good.
Presumably, driverless cars will be designed so they automatically stop for pedestrians in their path.
Most cities I’ve been, pedestrians already walk out in front of traffic. The only thing that stops them is the chance that a driver may not see them and plow into them.
My prediction - once driverless cars are ubiquitous, pedestrians won’t even bother looking at traffic. They’ll just walk out into traffic anywhere that’s convenient knowing that all the cars will stop.
Then all the police formerly used to control drivers can be reallocated as jaywalking stormtroopers...
Ironically, this is the flaw of any automation process that replaces a complex set of actions. A human driver is more likely to make mistakes, but the human mind is also going to be more adept at reacting to irregular and unconventional circumstances than a machine. This is why driverless technology is really only feasible right now for applications where the "fail-safe" protocol involves the car stopping itself completely. This works in an automated parallel-parking process, but it will never work at freeway speeds.
Is it me, or is it getting worse out there? A majority of drivers don't signal. When they turn, they cross the opposite lane so badly that it's necessary to stop 20 feet before an intersection. They pull out into oncoming traffic with nowhere near enough time to safely do so. I go through yellow lights because if I don't I could easily get hit by the car behind me flooring it. The design of some rigs, of even some oversize SUVs is so massive, it's impossible to see around them or over them, thus losing vision of road signs and entrance ramps. There are increbile blind spots, some because of the neck supports and other safety features.
I used to love driving. Now it's just not as much fun as it used to be.
My theory is this: As long as there is a mix of driverless and non-driverless vehicles on the road, there will be crashes. Driverless vehicles can only be programmed for logical circumstances and they expect sane, logical actions by other drivers. Anyone who has been on the road for five minutes knows that sanity and logic are two very rare commodities, especially in traffic.
There are more situations on the highway than can be programmed for, and things which happen in adjacent areas which affect what happens on the highway, so an attentive human can react before the situation becomes critical. Without true AI in the cars, they won't be able to do as well as a good human.
If you don’t want to drive, take the bus.
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Bus service sucks in most areas, you have to wear your bus pants, and then there are your fellow passengers to deal with.
LOL!
My prediction - once driverless cars are ubiquitous, pedestrians won’t even bother looking at traffic. They’ll just walk out into traffic anywhere that’s convenient knowing that all the cars will stop.
Then all the police formerly used to control drivers can be reallocated as jaywalking stormtroopers...
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Good points. The car will snap a picture of the jackass, who will be identified by facial recognition and issued a citation.
The biggest difference that the research found, however, is fault. So far, driverless cars were to blame for zero of the crashes.
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The cars are too perfect. They don’t give the same cues as a human driver. But this problem will be solvable.
Well I guess that puts a fork in personal vehicles, get in your city run people movers and leave the driving to professionals. < /sarc >
If you imagine a situation where there has been a general loss of civility, you might want to consider there are times when having automatic braking could get you killed. Sometimes, and thankfully those times are rare, you might want to just keep going--your life could depend on it. Being corralled like a sheep by malicious pedestrians could be a real drawback.
Yet they already exist.
The best they will accomplish over the short term is an “advanced cruise control†which will keep you in your lane, and save you if you start to nod off.
Such cars are already on the road, but so are the totally driverless cars, but not with regular consumers yet.
All I can think to say to that headline: Ya think?
True, that.
I want a vehile that can circle the block rsther than me having to find and pay for a place to park it.
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An automated car can find a spot miles away and then pick you up when you’re ready. One company is already working on an automatic valet. It will drop you off at the front door and then go park itself.
Really? And how much did we, the American taxpayers, pay for that study...? I would’ve told you that for a cup of coffee.
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