When Google started showing off their “Driverless” car back in 2012, and then Michigan, California, Florida, and Nevada made them legal in 2013, these driverless or autonomous vehicles became the talk of the town. And now a Harris Poll Study says that 88% of adults would be worried about riding in a driverless car. I’ll admit, it seems just wrong to me. Way wrong. But… when you consider the fact that I work about 16 hours per day, I sure could use that hour driving down to see one of our sponsors to get some work done rather than having to operate the Suburban. And what about kids? Generically speaking, I don’t think kids today are as qualified to drive as I was when I turned 16.
Clearly anyone that just blindly says “Yes I want one!”, and doesn’t ask any questions, is someone that shouldn’t be allowed to operate a motor vehicle anyway, but I sure have a few. Do you have to have a driver’s license to ride in one alone? How good is the system running this thing? Is it going to shut off like the “never goes down” internet I pay $100 per month for? What if the driverless car is involved in an accident? Even if it’s not the driverless car’s fault, what does the insurance do? Liability has to be of some concern. And what about all the doomsday thinkers? I’m sure that a lot of people will think that hackers are going to take over their car and kill them all CSI style, or that “The Man” will know where they are and what they are doing. I hate to break it to you folks, but unless you have a flip phone with no GPS, or make sure that ALL of your GPS is turned off on the smart phone of yours, “The Man” can keep track of you.
Here are the results of the Harris Poll Study, which was commissioned by Seapine Software. Seapine is a company that supports automotive, government, health, financial, and other industries through consulting, systems, and software development of all kinds. We’re sure they are trying to see what the likelyhood is that this technology will take off and make them jillions of dollars or not.
Based on 2,039 adults surveyed.
88% said they would be worried about riding in a driverless car.
79% said they would worry that the equipment in a driverless car would fail, such as a braking software glitch or failed warning sensor that alerts the driver of danger.
59% said they were worried about liability issues, such as who would be responsible if a driverless car is involved in an accident.
52% fear a hacker could breach the driverless car’s computer system and gain control of the vehicle.
37% worry that auto companies, insurers, advertisers, and municipalities may collect personal data such as where you go and how fast you are traveling.
Meanwhile, 12% of these folks indicated they would not worry at all about riding in a driverless car. These are probably the same 12% of idiots who never pay attention to who is driving them around now.
What do you think?
Would you worry?
What worries you about the thought of riding in or owning a driverless car?
It might end up being cheaper to just hire a chauffeur.
I worry more about all the clowns behind the wheels at this moment in time.
OTH,
DriverLess-cars will probably exactly obey the speedlimits, everywhere…!
Which could be very annoying ofcourse if you’re a 10%-over driver… 😉
I’m 100% worried about those 12% that aren’t worried.
I commute 2 hours a day, with no option for public transit, and would love to have that time back to do something useful while my car drives itself to work and back, but I think all the concerns listed are legit. On the other hand, I’m quite convinced that a car running on a Commodore 64 could do a better job of driving than some of the complete idiots I have to share the road with.
Worried ? Definitely
Why ? Consider this ; How many times in the last few months has your hard drive stalled or crashed [ Commodore 64 ? Seriously ? ].. your GPS lost signal or misdirected you ..or your cell phone let you down ?
Now .. consider the fact that the systems needed for an autonomous car are dependent on the above .. and will be in a very hostile environment [ the automobile ] therefore even more subject to the above problems …
… then think about the consequences that’ll ensue when those hit in an autonomous car
On top of that …. we’re already becoming a people incapable of DOING much of anything . Take the act of driving away and that will only serve to speed up our evolution towards totally dependent on outside forces human blobs
Then think about who those ‘ outside ‘ forces will be [ Big Government and the Corporations ] …
… and you’re damned right I’m concerned !!!
I worry about the logic.. exp. when on a highway, a car in the right lane and one in the left lane might want to go into the middle lane, the human(normally) looks first and even if the other car decides to try to get into that same spot, they’ll see it and turn back into the lane that they came.. something the driverless cars won’t be able to do..
Next is weather, it can’t tell if there is ice or snow, only that it’s above or below freezing.. this can make a huge mess.. never mind that by the time it warns the human. it be to late..As the human will be texting or reading, or eating, talking and not looking at the road like thy have to when in control of vehicle…
Also the rules of the road, that starts off with “you are to be in control of vehicle at all times” how’s that going to work, when you are not in control of any of it.. and one of the reasons I hate traction control/abs/stab control/etc anyone that’s driven in snow with a traction controlled/abs car knows just how helpless you are when these systems intervene as you are trying to stop or straightn the vehicle that is sliding to the left.. as it’s not got the logic. it only knows wheel speed isn’t the same as the others and screws with your control of vehicle..
And another will be the logged system of gps speed limits, and them keeping that updated.. and that 40mph road that’s now 20mph at school time that the gps has you blowing through at 40mph . or dropping to 20mph in the summer or w-end/etc .
Oh and construction crews and or lanes blocked off..
I’d not want to share the road with these things nevermind be in one..
just bring back trolleys for those that don’t want to e bothered with driving.. look fixed
I don’t trust drive by wire, electric power steering or Toyota floor mats. That said I’d give it a whirl as long as the weather was good, driverless cars in the snow, or dense fog where it may be able to ‘see’ and go a safe speed when surrounded by people who can’t. Hook me up with Oskosh’s HEMMIT DARPA one and I’ll ride that thing anywhere.
I hate the idea, but for some poeple its probably better than them driving.
It has been reported several times insurance companies and NTSB have been trying to figure liabilities for driverless cars to become a reality. In some ways, it will be a good thing, especially for the big metropolis areas.
Not sure how these cars will handle weather, but they won’t be seeing like we do. They will be using the same sensors they already do so minivan moms won’t back over Jr. on his bigwheel. They will also be communicating directly with each other.
I think I will be no longer driving by the time they get rid of lanes for driver cars, so I can continue being a cromagnon in my driving.
I’m afraid I see a time in the future where cars with an actual driver in them are paying a higher premium then driverless car-owners…
HELL YES! The 12% that aren’t worried are the ones that developed the health care website!
It’s astounding that neither the developers of these technologies – nor journalists – have learned anything from our experiences in automating flight. There are far fewer problems associated with creating “pilotless” aircraft yet this dream is still but a dream.
Or it could just be ignorance.