Whom would you let die?

[Delirium]

Commercial vehicles were the first to adapt ABS brakes. I'd predict a repeat of that pattern.

Bingo.

I remember people telling me, "I don't want a cellphone! I definitely don't want one that fits in my pocket so the boss or my wife can call me at any hour." This was during the early 1990's when phones were just shredding their large transceivers.

Disagree with me, but I am certain beyond a shadow of a doubt driverless cars will become the norm. New innovators like Tesla and Google will form the tip of the spear and in the nearer future the populace will see lanes on the highway dedicated to them (like our high occupancy or commuter lanes).

[Wiley]

I'm not fond of letting the car decide who lives and dies.  On the other hand, how often is a true Kobayashi Maru scenario going to come up?  Ideally the vehicle should have the information and processing power to find someplace safe to go, or be able to see the obstruction soon enough to stop if it suddenly finds all avenues in front of it blocked.  A machine's true, balls-out panic stop will likely be only slightly better than a collision for the passengers, but that's still preferable to hitting stuff.

The nice thing about an automaton- it doesn't get distracted or impatient.

Wiley.

[Brooke]

'cause I'm lazy and as a German I prefer someone else making the decisions for me 

They are happy to.  In fact, as more come in, they will insist.

[Shuffler]

I'm not fond of letting the car decide who lives and dies.  On the other hand, how often is a true Kobayashi Maru scenario going to come up?  Ideally the vehicle should have the information and processing power to find someplace safe to go, or be able to see the obstruction soon enough to stop if it suddenly finds all avenues in front of it blocked.  A machine's true, balls-out panic stop will likely be only slightly better than a collision for the passengers, but that's still preferable to hitting stuff.

The nice thing about an automaton- it doesn't get distracted or impatient.

Wiley.

I have a 1.3 million dollar laser that has been sidelined for 3 weeks Wednesday..... due to automation and it's breakdowns.

[zack1234]

Zack drives a green Toyota Prius with a 'Russell Brand for World President' bumper sticker on it.

Brand what a complete David Icke nutter

[nrshida]

Disagree with me, but I am certain beyond a shadow of a doubt driverless cars will become the norm. New innovators like Tesla and Google will form the tip of the spear and in the nearer future the populace will see lanes on the highway dedicated to them (like our high occupancy or commuter lanes).

I agree. And in those lanes the traffic will be much faster and less subjective to congestion. Comfort, safety, convenience and relative economy is always the way this stuff gets established. Consumers have traditionally paid for that without complaint.

Look at cruise control. I bet a lot of the old stick-in-the-mud nay-sayers drive cars with cruise control. Automous cars will just extend this to everything else. Like cruise control - and something some seem to be unaware of - all of the present concepts allow you to turn the autonomous mode off. You can drive if you want to. Some really interesting projects right now dealing especially with that transition. One example of a retracting steering wheel at 49 seconds:-

[ghi]

I just watched this video, Putin's driver instantly deceased in head on colission on crazy Moscow's streets; Putin was not onboard.
Maybe an assasination attempt ; hackers can't take over the brakes, steer, ingition in this new over comptuterized vehicles..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3776086/Vladimir-Putin-s-official-car-involved-head-crash-Moscow-killed-Russian-president-s-favourite-chauffeur.html

[Wiley]

I have a 1.3 million dollar laser that has been sidelined for 3 weeks Wednesday..... due to automation and it's breakdowns.

Absolutely.  Never said it was perfect, but depending on how well they actually work, I can easily see them being superior to the average human being behind the wheel.  Obviously, I am a better driver than any machine, but it's those other people.

Wiley.

[nrshida]

Absolutely.  Never said it was perfect, but depending on how well they actually work, I can easily see them being superior to the average human being behind the wheel.  Obviously, I am a better driver than any machine, but it's those other people.

Some people can out-perform machines Wiley. It's just the average like you say. Have you heard that brilliant story about Fangio in the 1950 Monarco GP? Machines - the way they're presently doing it anyway - don't do intuition.

An interesting point about ABS, I read recently most F1 drivers can outperform even the best ABS systems but like they say, doing it for 50 laps straight is another matter.

[Wiley]

Some people can out-perform machines Wiley. It's just the average like you say. Have you heard that brilliant story about Fangio in the 1950 Monarco GP? Machines - the way they're presently doing it anyway - don't do intuition.

An interesting point about ABS, I read recently most F1 drivers can outperform even the best ABS systems but like they say, doing it for 50 laps straight is another matter.

Oh sure.  To be honest, I really dislike the idea of an automated car.  I really don't like my life being in the hands of a software engineer every day on my way into work.

These days though, IMO the vast majority of people do not treat driving as a skill.  It is something they do in between finding the right radio station/song on their iPad and talking to other people, either in the vehicle or elsewhere.

The thing is, I don't think automated vehicles will be at their best until they're more or less all automated.

Wiley.

[ROC]

Nrshida, like it or not, it's coming.  That pretty much set the "mandate" thing going.  Did you read your own post?

[SIK1]

I'm pretty much all for autonomous vehicles. Mainly because a lot of people (at least around here) don't seem to be entirely involved in the task of driving. So their SA is not that of the av, and the best way to avoid and accident is to not get into one in the first place.
I do believe that in a life and death situation the human is more likely to make an emotional decision that favors their own survival. Where the machine will make decisions based on mathematical calculations.

 
Sik

[Shuffler]

Absolutely.  Never said it was perfect, but depending on how well they actually work, I can easily see them being superior to the average human being behind the wheel.  Obviously, I am a better driver than any machine, but it's those other people.

Wiley.

Many average humans do not know that slower traffic should move to the right here in the US. They also have to slow down at every flashing light to look for bodies. Most are stupid drivers.

[zack1234]

Can someone answer the elephant in the room why are they developing self driving cars?

Do governments want to take the human element out of driving?

For safety?

Why would a car company care if you cannot drive properly, if you crash they make more money?

[nrshida]

Can someone answer the elephant in the room why are they developing self driving cars?

Because they can, there's money in it, and they want to, is the short answer. Driving has been de-skilled for decades now. Traction control, stability control, ABS, adaptive cruise control. All sells very well. Then there's the convenience features. From automatic transmissions to electric windows and headlight jetwashers. Those features cost a lot of money to develop and produce. Who's paying for that would you say? Autonomous vehicles are just a natural progression of this line.

Do governments want to take the human element out of driving?

I don't think they truly care as long as they get their piece of the action. Which they will.

Did you read your own post?

What are you crazy?!?!? Have you read some of what I write? Of course not. I type with my eyes closed singing very loudly in my head to block out the bad thoughts.

Nrshida, like it or not, it's coming.  That pretty much set the "mandate" thing going.

Depends what you mean with mandate. If you mean an ‘an official order or commission to do something’ then no, this originates in industry and academia not government. If you mean ‘authorisation’ to do something then no, legislation always walks behind product development with an innovative content. Look at Tesla’s Model S interface. Same interactions with a phone while driving will get you fined (and rightly so). If you meant ‘mandatory’ then no, it’s optional, although there might be a point far in the future where non-autonomous vehicles are restricted to certain roads’. That’s be far far off though. A tolerant society shouldn’t stop Chalenge driving round in his Model T shaking his fists at everyone. That’d be cruel.

If you had some other meaning intended for that word then you’d have to explain further.

I’m not as arrogant or bombastic as some of my posts might make me out to be. Just this is very close to my area so I'm passionate about it. And I’ve got an allergy to people who are deficient at thinking for themselves but decide they'll think for all of us. I hate that but then we've all got our allergies haven't we?

About design and technology: look at American design in the 1950s and 60s. Was all about excitement in the future. Now what do we have? Retro design, a wish to recapture the 'better' times of the past and an ingrained fear of anything new and unfamiliar. Bit of a sad state of affairs really.