You missed a huge increase in purchase price, as well as maintenance, inspection, and calibration costs.
Questionable liability issues (who's insurance covers what?)
As for:
Fewer disability cases due to car accidents.
Assumes facts not in evidence. Elevators fail, bridges collapse, airliners crash, ships sink, anything designed and built by humans can and does fail, sometimes slowly, sometimes in a most spectacular manor. It is always best to plan for the worst (that's why airliners have two pilots)!
People are freed to be productive during the car ride.
I don't see updating your Facebook page, tweeting, texting, and sundry other such as being "productive". Chopping wood? I don't think so...
Elderly who can no longer drive safely can now get around safely.
You obviously have never had to cope with the elderly as passengers have you? They need assistance getting into a car seat, someone has to stow the walker/wheelchair/crutches in the trunk before you leave and when you arrive, retrieve the "mobility aids" and then push them the 1/4 mile from the parking lot to their destination since the "handicapped slots" are all taken by nominally healthy people who have scammed themselves a handicapped pass (morally & ethically handicapped!).
Elderly that would need someone to drive them to the doctor can now go by themselves.
Not gonna happen, see above. In addition, someone needs to accompany the "patient" to fill out the insurance information, provide information Re current medications, reason for visit, sit in on examination and take notes of any changes in home care required (remember elderly patients tend to be a bit forgetful), and then push the patient back across the parking lot, help them into the car (not as easy as it sounds), stow the wheelchair, get in and reset the GPS for home. Heave a big sigh when you pull into the driveway and your mother-in-law says cheerfully, "we forgot to get my script filled at the pharmacy, we'll need to stop there on the way home as I need to pick up some other things too. My list is in my purse." "Where is my purse? Oh no, I think I may have set it on the floor in the Dr's office." Another big sigh, reset GPS, &C, &C, &C...
That is what it means to be a care giver to an elderly patient. You are the one needing patience! (and a stiff drink as you crawl under the covers, you keep going because all too soon she will be gone and you will be left with thoughts of who will fetch your walker when you become "elderly")
Youth that need to get to ball practice can do so by themselves.
You'd trust a kid with a $40,000+ vehicle, all by himself? You must be mad! What's wrong with a bike?
Low cost driverless delivery vehicles would be possible.
And how does this unmanned vehicle unload itself when it gets to your house? Does it sit and wait for you? Does it run back to the warehouse with your goodies? What next? Keep trying until it finds someone home? Maybe it just dumps your new flat screen in your driveway...
Hmm, needs work...
Regards,
GtG
PS I worked over 40 years as an engineer, mostly in product design and development. I used to think that a rational design standard was "fool proof". I had to change to "damn fool proof" as the years passed. I found even that was not sufficient as God seems to be providing more talented fools these days...
G
The cost might be a lot lower than you think. The mechanics, sensors and computer and not that expensive. And the software is a fixed cost.
And it's already shaping up that we will have multiple competitors.
Inspection/Calibration might be comparable to current cars computers. Which is none. When the computer fails, you replace it.
"Assumes facts not in evidence. Elevators fail, bridges collapse, airliners crash, ships sink, anything designed and built by humans can and does fail, sometimes slowly, sometimes in a most spectacular manor."
Those facts are in evidence in other systems where machines have eliminated human error. Airliners are largely automated and have a much safer record per mile than do automobiles. Elevators rarely cause injuries, they have automatic safety brakes. Every ship collision I can think of was due to "Human error" not computer error. There will be some machine caused crashes but the Google self driven car already has an impressive number of miles with no collisions.
"I don't see updating your Facebook page, tweeting, texting, and sundry other such as being "productive". Chopping wood? I don't think so..."
How you use your time is up to you. You could read your work email, write reports, do homework, etc. Sometimes even facebook is productive. And if you update facebook in the car then you don't have to do it when you get to the office. Don't assume all work must occur either in an office or in front of a woodpile. Some people talk productively on the phone while driving, but the distraction is a hazard. Other's don't talk because they wan't to focus on driving.
You obviously have never had to cope with the elderly as passengers have you?
I have extensive experience with the elderly. Did you think that all elderly are exactly alike? Not all elderly that can no longer drive safely need assistance into and out of cars. And many elderly drive long after it is safe for them to.
Even for those that do need assistance, people at each end of the trip could assist without them to make the trip. You could load your parent in the car, and the doctor's office could have someone go out and assist them out of the car. Would you send someone off by themselves who had severe dementia? Probably not. But don't stereotype all seniors that way.
"You'd trust a kid with a $40,000+ vehicle, all by himself? You must be mad! What's wrong with a bike?"
Well for one my kids live too far from their school to bike. And two, the kid is NOT driving. The vehicle is driving. This is trusting a vehicle with your kid. Yeah, I'd want to see a safe track record. And I probably still wouldn't put a young kid in by himself. But my 6ft 14year old, no problem.
"And how does this unmanned vehicle unload itself when it gets to your house?"
There are many, many ways to solve this problem. A simple automated verification call confirming that you will be home, prior to packing the vehicle would suffice. Goods on a palette could simply be dropped off using an automated arm or tilting bed.
I dub you Gandalf_The_Negative.