Robotaxis Malfunction in San Francisco - Would You Ride in a Driverless Car?

[mrodgers]

You don't think 40,000+ people killed and millions injured every year in the United States is a problem?

The issue is, those doing the killing and injuring are not the ones who want self-driving cars. They are fine with playing on their phone while driving down the road. It's the minority who are being affected by the majority playing with their phones that want self-driving cars.

I'm all for a self-driving car for everyone else. I don't want to be the one in a self-driving car. Just now being in my first automatic transmission car after 30+ years of driving is driving me crazy (pun not intended.) No way I'm giving up control of a vehicle I am in to a computer.

I'd be perfectly happy with your self-driving car keeping in it's own lane and maintaining speed while you are twittering or whatever your doing on your phone when you should be driving though.

 

[Micca]

20-30 years from now it will be great...right now it's scary due to the number of factors involved with driving, and the sheer amount of real-world data that they have to acquire....among regular cars/drivers.

I pretty much agree with your post, but I don't think it'll take 20-30 years, maybe closer to 10???

 

[BrianL]

The issue is, those doing the killing and injuring are not the ones who want self-driving cars. They are fine with playing on their phone while driving down the road. It's the minority who are being affected by the majority playing with their phones that want self-driving cars.

I'm all for a self-driving car for everyone else. I don't want to be the one in a self-driving car. Just now being in my first automatic transmission car after 30+ years of driving is driving me crazy (pun not intended.) No way I'm giving up control of a vehicle I am in to a computer.

I'd be perfectly happy with your self-driving car keeping in it's own lane and maintaining speed while you are twittering or whatever your doing on your phone when you should be driving though.

Yeah, for me, I think self-driving cars can work if ALL cars are self-driving. Having human drivers adds too much or a wild-card into the mix and I would prefer to maintain control around them. If the system was completely driverless, I would be much more comfortable with that.

 

[Mysterian]

Dave: Take me to Chipotle, HAL.
HAL: I don't think so, Dave.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

For those who are interested in driverless rides (when they evolve), can you tell me why? What problem are we trying to solve here? Is it just a matter of "if we (maybe) can, we should"?

I'm very much looking forward to the technology being effective and safe. Human drivers scare me more than anything - many of whom are not actually qualified to drive, and others who feel the traffic laws and speed limits are a just a suggestion......

 

[Mysterian]

I keep picturing the cars from Minority Report. Each one was self-driving, basically like being on a rail ride at a theme park. With every car working on a mutual system there could be far less chances of wrecks but drivers will always want to go manual at some point.

 

[hopemax]

I'm pretty confident that a machine with sensors has a faster reaction time than I do. I get tired, I adjust the dials on the radio, especially if I'm trying to figure out if there's a traffic report about why I'm not moving in traffic, or to adjust the defrost / airflow in the cabin when the weather turns bad and things start fogging up, I occasionally turn my head to make eye contact with the person in the car next to me. I can't be looking forward, in the rear view and in the side mirrors at the same time, I always have to cycle through them. The car can be constantly evaluating all 4 sides at the same time. It's not the phone people I'm worried about, it's that something will happen in the moments where humans are doing legitimate things and so their reaction times are affected.

 

[KayMichigan]

Nope. The technology is a LONG way from being safe.

 

[ChrisFL]

I pretty much agree with your post, but I don't think it'll take 20-30 years, maybe closer to 10???

let's say 15 years, split the difference

but seriously, technology moves at a RAPID pace, but due to the complexities, laws, road construction, large monolithic car companies all could factor into the speed of these changes

 

[_19disnA]

The whole self-driving thing reminds me of what we used to say about nuclear power. In THEORY it could be used to provide unlimited electrical power and solve all of our energy issues. In REALITY that has proven to be a lot harder to implement and in spite of decades of research, no one has yet come up with a solution about what to do with the resulting radioactive waste that will remain hazardous for over 10,000 years. Nuclear power plants remain enormously complex to build and operate safely.

 

[Kennywood]

Hypothetical Situation:

I'm behind the wheel of my car, obeying all traffic laws. I stop at a traffic light and wait for it to turn green. It finally does, I wait about 3 seconds before proceeding through the intersection. All of a sudden, I'm t-boned by a driverless car. My car is totaled and I wind up in the hospital.

I'm probably going to be a little upset about the whole situation.

Question: Who do I sue? Do I go after the person in the driverless car? Do I go after the automaker? Who is the party responsible for hitting my car and putting me in the hospital?

 

[MillauFr]

Hypothetical Situation:

I'm behind the wheel of my car, obeying all traffic laws. I stop at a traffic light and wait for it to turn green. It finally does, I wait about 3 seconds before proceeding through the intersection. All of a sudden, I'm t-boned by a driverless car. My car is totaled and I wind up in the hospital.

I'm probably going to be a little upset about the whole situation.

Question: Who do I sue? Do I go after the person in the driverless car? Do I go after the automaker? Who is the party responsible for hitting my car and putting me in the hospital?

You just let your insurance company sort it out. That is a good question though and many end up being tougher to solve than the technical issues.

 

[MillauFr]

Nope. The technology is a LONG way from being safe.

But we let human drivers out on the road and we know they are not safe.

 

[MillauFr]

Yeah, for me, I think self-driving cars can work if ALL cars are self-driving. Having human drivers adds too much or a wild-card into the mix and I would prefer to maintain control around them. If the system was completely driverless, I would be much more comfortable with that.

Even then there are far more pedestrians and bicyclists the cars have to safely navigate around. They are harder for the self driving cars than other cars.

 

[KayMichigan]

But we let human drivers out on the road and we know they are not safe.

Well, heck, NOTHING in this world is completely safe. it's not safe to get out of bed in the morning. It's not safe to stay in bed either.

However, cars have been developed to the point where they're much safer than they were when they were first introduced.

One day driverless cars might be safe enough to trust but we aren't there yet to the point where I would feel safe riding in a driverless car, unless I had a way to control the car if something went wrong.

 

[MillauFr]

Well, heck, NOTHING in this world is completely safe.

Exactly my point. I think we all here agree that autonomous cars need to be held to a higher standard that human drivers. The only question up for debate in my mind is.... how much of a higher standard can society expect and accept before they become widespread.

 

[bcla]

I'm all for a self-driving car for everyone else. I don't want to be the one in a self-driving car. Just now being in my first automatic transmission car after 30+ years of driving is driving me crazy (pun not intended.) No way I'm giving up control of a vehicle I am in to a computer.

Computers are everywhere even in manual transmission cars. Obviously with electronic fuel injection, but possibly with drive by wire steering, emergency brake assist, traction control, anti-lock brakes, rear-view cameras, lane assist, etc. I test drove a newer one and it had an electronic parking brake, which also included a computer controlled hill-holder feature. The instrument panel also indicated the current gear. Some of the more advanced manual transmissions even have automated rev matching, where it will rev up on downshifts for smoother shifting and less synchro wear.

I was in San Francisco on the 4th and yeah the place is crawling with self-driving cars, but of course with backup drivers. The place is suppose a testing ground because of all the hills. They're kind of hard to miss with their funky looking LIDAR arrays hanging all over. But the kicker was that I saw a Waymo (Google) car trailing a Cruise (GM) car.

 

[KayMichigan]

Exactly my point. I think we all here agree that autonomous cars need to be held to a higher standard that human drivers. The only question up for debate in my mind is.... how much of a higher standard can society expect and accept before they become widespread.

A driverless car that doesn't crash into the side of a truck because it can't tell the difference between the side of a truck and open sky.

 

[ThistleMae]

I wish I would live long enough to be able to use one. Unfortunately, I doubt it.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

They’d be great for eliminating drinking and driving! Now you can get completely sloshed every time you go to dinner without worrying about how you’ll get home!