Car-Crash Fatalities are Down. Auto-Pilot Cars May Solve That.

[cjforumadmin]

http://www.bangshift.com/blog/Car-Crash-Fatalities-are-Down.-Auto-Pilot-Cars-May-Solve-That..html

[Falcon67]

Re: Car-Crash Fatalities are Down. Auto-Pilot Cars May Solve That.

That guy may have a Ph.D., but our advanced powers of intuition say this is a really bad idea. Here's the scarier quote: "'As these systems mature, the drivers have to do less and less. There could be a natural tendency for the driver to do other things,'

Too late, they already are doing other things. Texting, reading paper, shaving, makeup, etc.

This is the same Piled higher & Deeper thinking that thinks we'll get on a fly by wire aircraft with no crew. I'd drive a Camaro before I'd do anything like that.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: Car-Crash Fatalities are Down. Auto-Pilot Cars May Solve That.

Ah but the bigger picture! I was just talking with a co-worker yesterday about the auto-stopping features on some newer cars. And at first I was totally against the whole idea but I starting thinking about a bigger picture scenerio. Get these devices perfected (or as nearly so as can be) in the 2-D driving world. Yes literally getting the driver to do less and less, then when the technology leap is made for the average person to have a flying vehicle it would likely be critical that every one of those vehicles are equiped with a similar device but for 3-D space. It might be far out there thinking, but if it comes down to the only thing holding personal flying "cars" from the public is the fact that the public is horribly unqualified to control a flying vehicle then this would be the key piece of technology to make it possible. Might as well work on the technological fronts that we can rather than have the "ah-ha!" moment for cheap flight and no practical way to market or use it. Come on Jetsons! ;D

That being said I don't really want any part in a car that's going to hit the brakes on me.

[STINEY]

Re: Car-Crash Fatalities are Down. Auto-Pilot Cars May Solve That.

Randal pegged it...... brilliant insight!

[38P]

Re: Car-Crash Fatalities are Down. Auto-Pilot Cars May Solve That.

And if these systems are as reliable as most computerized consumer electronics (computers, DVD players etc.) fatalities will double in no time. :o

It's one thing to have an auto-pilot on a multi-million dollar airliner flying in controlled air space or a mass transit system operating on a fixed course. It's quite another to have one in a cheap car that's operated in close proximity to other traffic and innumerable mobile and fixed obstacles.

The DOD self-driving cars I've seen require massive amounts of expensive hardware, large teams monitoring the telemetry, and operate at speeds slower than a pack of south Florida octogenarians. And they are hardly foolproof.

Thus, this story sounds more like some guy pitching for a research grant.

That being said, I suspect radar-assisted brakes, semi-automatic grid-following technology (driver transfers control of the vehicle into an automated moving queue via computer), taxation based on vehicular tracking, and silly low-speed driver assist gimmicks will proliferate faster than any Bangshifter would like.

The FAA and the anti-greenhouse gas lobby will put the kibosh on flying cars, even if they were to become practical and affordable. And imagine the insurance premiums on something that could take out a most of a city block if it malfunctioned.

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Car-Crash Fatalities are Down. Auto-Pilot Cars May Solve That.

The techno crap on cars right now is why people don't pay attention to their driving as it is. They believe they are safe in abs braked, multiple air bagged, traction control, stability controlled piece of crap that it is OK to yammer on the phone or text away. The car will save them.

If you want to save people, teach them how to drive. Make sure they keep their skills up as well. Don't let drive a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry. Oh no, shove their asses behind the wheel of a 63 Plymouth Valiant without power steering, power brakes, four brake fading drums, and a three speed on the column. That way, they learn to drive with right feet (Ever follow that person whose brake lights never go out?) , and the hands are too busy to pick up the phone or shove french fries in their face. If they can handle parallel parking without a damned computer assisting their untalented ass, then let them have a license.

[BangShift McT]

Re: Car-Crash Fatalities are Down. Auto-Pilot Cars May Solve That.

Amen, Scott. Biggest pet peeve I have is the multi-talent driver...cell phone, makeup, and babysitting. If me and my siblings were too loud, Dad would have no problems quieting us down. Nowadays...*shakes head*.

ABS, stability control, no clutch pedal...sad. A lot of people would really be screwed twenty years ago.