do we want driverless cars?

[gone-ot]

...is GM gonna call the "failure" mode of their automated driving system the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH (wink,wink)??

[sheepdog 44]

I would like too see streamlined ride sharing coming out of this. Imagine the thousands of automated cars carrying only one person with a fixed route and destination input in the computer. People could electronically hail a car from a cellphone and pay the owner compensation for gas via cellphone as well.

On my way to work, i notice there are 50+ cars that all follow the same 20 mile route at a given time. And this isn't a mainstream route either! Look at all that extra capacity that could save the owner money, the passenger money since gas is cheaper than the bus fare, and the city for not investing in operating extra buses at low capacity.

Well, American society isn't at that level yet where they would be willing to contemplate such a scheme. Not as long as gassing their car is financially viable. It will be so in time. "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed."

[Cd]

Originally Posted by Ryland

We've gone from 5,000 miles per year, to 10,000 miles per year to 15,000 miles per year being common, we are not seeing people who drive 20,000 and 30,000 miles per year! do we really need to be wasting that much fuel on personal transportation??? If you can't drive your own car take public transit, I live in a town of 15,000 people and we have public transit and part of that is a few buses that will pick you up at your door if you are elderly or disabled, there is even an online route map allowing you to see where the bus you want to catch is so you don't have to stand outside in the cold waiting for it!
That is what I would like to see, not every single person, no matter their age or ability ridding around in their own personal pod.
We need to find ways to make better uses of our resources, not figure out ways to use them up faster!

I have mental problems that make me avoid driving as much as possible unless i'm comfortable with the route.
I get extremely nervous driving or in any new unfamiliar situation.
I also have social phobia / agoraphobia ...etc etc .. and this actually makes me avoid the bus, but when that i do ride the bus, I can certainly agree with Basjoos that the bus systems ( at least here in Austin ) are a huge waste of time. A trip that would take 15 minutes by car takes at least 45 minutes - usually more .

And then the bus drops you off 1/2 mile from your home and you have to dash across the highway to get home. ....and you get to sit next to the guys that smell like urine and feces ...

so ...YES !!! looking forward to driverless cars . Now if only they were affordable to poor folk.

[Frank Lee]

We already have cars that sit there idling by themselves forever; I for one am looking forward to driverless cars. Imagine, say you don't want to go to work for whatever reason, you can still send your car there... it can go through some drive-thru at lunch time... then it can come home again! It doesn't tax the imagination too much to envision cars that are smarter than drivers; then I think the proper thing to do is enable the cars to decide when and where they want to go.

[Cd]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

We already have cars that sit there idling by themselves forever; I for one am looking forward to driverless cars. Imagine, say you don't want to go to work for whatever reason, you can still send your car there... it can go through some drive-thru at lunch time... then it can come home again! It doesn't tax the imagination too much to envision cars that are smarter than drivers; then I think the proper thing to do is enable the cars to decide when and where they want to go.

So what you're saying is you could send your car out for pizza and beer

[Frank Lee]

Or it could just decide to do that by itself!

After all, female judges have already ruled that female drivers are not to be expected to be in control of their vehicles; it's the other way around! :/

[brucey]

Lets just take it all the way to it's logical conclusion:

[user removed]

I might as well get a driverless car. Then I will be conforming with all the cars I see on the road that are already driverless, even when there is a "driver" sitting in the left front seat (other side for our RHD members).

Oh yeah, God help the poor attorneys, who will they sue?

I do like the ideal of driving my electric bubble pod to the large giffard tube where I can be sucked to my destination, or at least very close to my destination. I could get in the ETTT pod and go to the west coast in 45 minutes while using only a few kilowatts, with most of it regenerated as I slow down from 4000 MPH somewhere near Vegas to stop in LA for lunch.

regards
Mech

[Frank Lee]

Oh yeah, God help the poor attorneys, who will they sue?

Whatever party- no matter how abstractly attached they are to the case- with the deepest pockets.

[niky]

The issues with shopping while on the commute are there, but that's where online shopping comes in. Where your parcels share gas and delivery costs with dozens of other parcels heading out your way.

Look at it this way. If you can't carry home that extra 41" TV, maybe you don't need it right this very instant. I certainly don't drive out every day of the week looking to bring home a wild boar slung over my shoulder to stock up for the winter.

-

I like driving myself as much as the next person, but I think automated cars would be an excellent idea on the highway. Have trains of cars tailgating each other with millimetric precision, saving gallons of gas per trip. Perhaps manifacturers should look into returning to the days of 5 mph steel bumpers, so we can even bump draft each other on the way.

At the very least, computers are more attentive than the mindless drones that weave and wander down the highway nowadays... I'd rathee trust my life to a radar-guided cruise missile than one powered by beer and text messaging.