Driverless Cars

Mojoe Outfitters

Mojoe Outfitters

Adventurist
There is a revolution coming whether we like it or not: Driverless cars. This is going to come sooner than we think with the end result being that our children will be banned from driving their own cars in their lifetime. The implications of this will have a huge affect on our lives and our freedoms.

I am curious what you folks think about the driverless car revolution and what the implications will be to our lives and society during its implementation and after full conversion has been completed. The affect on our overlanding hobby could be immense as well.

I have a lot of thoughts about this and I'll chime in with them later in this thread. But, I'll just offer a simple issue that I have never heard mentioned to get us started: Driverless cars will necessarily have to follow the speed limits to the letter. I think this will cause a lot of rear end crashes and traffic jams as soon as these cars are unleashed on the roads and highways.

What do you think???

Cam
 
I don't think manual-drive will be banned outright, but I do expect it to have a far more stringent testing and licensing policy once the "need for all to have a driver's license" is gone. I have mixed feelings on it myself. Considering how bad the vast majority of drivers in the US are, we may well be better off. One thing I do know: I love the idea of being able to edit photos and write a trip report riding the long highway miles back home... :)

The Oatmeal's take made me giggle, especially:
In the early versions they tested on closed courses, the vehicles were programmed to be highly aggressive. Apparently during these aggression tests, which involved obstacle courses full of traffic cones and inflatable crash-test objects, there were a lot of screeching brakes and roaring engines and terrified interns. Although impractical on the open road, part of me wishes I could have experienced that version as well.
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http://theoatmeal.com/blog/google_self_driving_car
 
I am looking forward to the market delivering a useable autopilot setting that can be disengaged by the driver.

Living in Texas, it would truly be a game changer if I could eat dinner with my family, read my kids a bedtime story, and take a nap, all while traveling down the highway towards the place where we want to turn off pavement.

If something like that becomes available, Ill be all over it. Might buy a little auto drive car for commutes as well. Sure would be nice to be able to check my emails with a cup of coffee while in transit to the office.

Another serious consideration is traffic management. Auto drive cars that can leverage the power of big data analytics will significantly reduce congestion on highways.

Yet another one, auto drive commercial vehicles. Yes, big rigs without stupid or sleepy drivers, and they can work 24/7 (allowing for maintenance of course). Significantly more productive and cost efficient.

I see mostly good things, not the least of which would be making serious progress to reduce the daily carnage on our streets. Im sure all of us know (or knew, in my case) someone special who has been hurt or killed on the roads in this country. We have made cars a lot better at absorbing damage to protect us. The next step is to utilize the strengths of our machines to prevent damage in the first place. We are already seeing it start to enter the market (ex: cars that automatically apply the brakes to avoid a collision, sensors that notify / prevent side impacts with an unseen vehicle in the drivers blind spot).

Someday in the not so distant future, the cars will come. We will rightfully have our concerns. The new cars will be made safe through testing, regulation, and the threat of litigation if the vehicles fail to protect passengers. We will have years of normalization, after which we will be bothered by vehicles that dont have an auto drive mode. Then someday in the more distant future, we wont even be on the ground any more, rather in the air. We will get used to that, too. Then someday in the distant future, we wont even need to travel any more, at least not in the way we know it today. We will get used to that, too. :)

Little steps. As we move forward, we will leave some things behind, but hopefully the new things will more than make up for what we lose.
 
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At the risk of being banned for uttering an obscenity, I'll say it anyway: Lawyers.

Does anyone think there won't be crashes with the version 1.0 software? Does anyone think the lawyers won't have a field day with those crashes? Will the people making those driverless cars survive financially? Will the government have to grant them immunity from lawsuits? Or will the cars have to be perfected someplace like China, where no one will be allowed to sue while the bugs are worked out?
 
I see a future where all high volume roads require the technology. I could even see the vehicles being smart enough to drive at the most fuel efficient speeds. I do believe it would significantly reduce traffic congestion in high volume areas.

I have a difficult time believing it would work successfully for neighborhood driving. The first soccer Mom that runs over someone's pet should prevent that.

I think actuaries will show that driverless cars actually have fewer accidents and fatalities than cars driven by people. Based on this thought the insurance companies may adjust the rates to include issues with defects in hardware and software. Naturally the automobile and software companies will also take insurance due to the likelihood of hardware and software issues.

Based on the fact that our laws are created by Lawyers, I don't see anyone being protected from being sued.
 
I'm expecting more subversion by opportunity cost, frankly.

The oligarchs pulling the strings will have no trouble assuming the 800% increase in per-mile operating taxes levied on non-automated vehicles, but the rest of us, well, it's public transit for us.

Oh, they'll steer our collective outrage at those greedy truckers who still think they deserve $0.40/mi to sit in the truck "just in case", but they'll win out in the long run. They did 1000 years ago. They did 100 years ago. They will 100 years from now.

I'm just looking forward to being able to get a nap when the kid takes one for once. ;)
 
A big steering wheel tax is coming in about ten years. The government will do everything it can to force us into driverless cars because they will have their "hands" on the controls.
 
Camadile said:
A big steering wheel tax is coming in about ten years. The government will do everything it can to force us into driverless cars because they will have their "hands" on the controls.
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More to the point, their generous, Super PAC donors will have a captive audience and market for ads and planned obsolescence.
 
It'll take at least a good generation or two before anyone, including the court systems (yes, lawyers) will make this acceptable. Thank god that won't happen before I'm dust in the wind. Not for it at all.
 
brentbba said:
It'll take at least a good generation or two before anyone, including the court systems (yes, lawyers) will make this acceptable. Thank god that won't happen before I'm dust in the wind. Not for it at all.
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It's coming way sooner than you think because the government wants it. It will be sold as a global warming solution but what they really want is control.

Cam
 
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