So in the infinite wisdom of some dumb pricks in government, driverless, self driving, autonomous (or whatever the hell you want to call them) cars are now legal in California. Florida and Nevada already legalized them earlier, but this takes the cake. While lawmakers are constantly trying to stop us from driving our hot rods, now it’s okay for cars to drive around by themselves. Sure, they are going to be some Google brand or hybrid or a crap Prius, but we all know their overall impact on the well being of our planet is circumspect at best. And while I understand that one of the “selling” points on these is less human error which means less wrecks and such. I get that, but as one reporter said last night on the news, who gets the ticket when one of these does crash or runs a red light? Is it the dude riding shotgun? If nobody is responsible, does that mean I can’t punt them out of the way with my gas guzzling Suburban? When Governor Jerry Brown was asked about liability, responsibility, etc, he said “well, I guess we’ll just have to figure that out”.
Really? Don’t you think you might want to have some direction on that subject BEFORE making it legal for this hybrid powered computers on wheels to share the 210 freeway with me? And has anyone done the mileage study on the Prius that has the 2 foot tall appendage hanging off the roof? I’m guessing it screws the mileage up A LOT.
At the root of my anger about these damn things is also the fact that we can’t get people to commute using already existing forms of mass transit here in California, and they keep saying we shouldn’t have more cars on the road, but now they let Google have this one. Weird don’t you think. And what kind of guy makes his car drive him to work? If we have really reached that level of lazy we should just call it a day and open the door for whatever country wants to come in and rename the place. If we do it right we might be able to make a big money branding deal though. Like Lucas Oil Stadium or Lucas Oil Raceway Park. How much do you think we could each get if we decided to sell the naming rights to China? Our new name could be People’s Republic Of Chinese United States of America. That would be cool. Would I get enough money to go buy myself an island big enough to poor a dragstrip on and live happily ever after? Will Summit ship me parts? Hmmmmmmmm
Don’t get me wrong…the technology is pretty bitchin’. And I love the creativity. But unless I’m missing something we are never going to come out on the good side of this deal. Instead of spending money figuring out a way to save the California economy, we are going to have the DMV, who’s known for their inability to do anything worth a crap, spend even more money trying to figure out how to register and insure robot cars. Great. And when they realize they’ve spent a jillion dollars doing so, how much does the registration on my Camaro go up?
And what happens when Joe Blow Californian decides that he should buy one of these for his family, little Suzy turns 16 and rides around in one all the time, and then grows up and has to actually DRIVE a car because every city in the world doesn’t have these yet? All that safer driver crap goes out the window. What in the hell are we doing?
I make two promises to all of you BangShifters out there.
1. The first time that I get the chance to ride in one of these little bastards I will do everything in my power to confuse it and make it crash.
2. I will never own one unless for the express purpose of reprogramming it to run into every other Prius on the road, while also learning how to do it’s own burnouts.
One last thing. Yes I know this is a rant, yes I know there are plenty of arguments against everything I’ve said, and maybe there are smarter people working on this than Chad Reynolds, but I doubt it. Got something to say? Bring it. We want to hear what you think.
Chad
This further confirms the dumbing down of our country. We are a nation a bums and government dependent fools. Wake up people and go get under a hood.
I Guess soon theyll try to outlaw hot rods and we’ll just all be abunch of outlaws….theyll have to take me out to get my hot rod.
Dead on. The whole damn idea is scary. I wonder if the autonomous car would hit a well-placed jump set in the middle of a country HWY though…no-driver Dukes of Hazzard!
I agree with you on all points Chad. And the above poster-toad.Just wanted to add that we are doomed
What kind of killjoy would think this is a good idea?! This is even worse then independent rear suspensions!
Had a similar conversation at work yesterday. Co worker asked where his self driving car was, I told him it was the f’n stupidest thing in the world, we already have mass transit, TAKE MF’N BUS!. Like most already have stated, this is type of “technology” is not the type that is making us any better.
Anthony-I couldnt agree more
This idioc idea should make 4-way stops intresting….
welcome to horizontal elevators.
If a traffic light sensor can’t figure out that I’m sitting at a red light waiting to turn left on my KTM 640, how are one of these computer-guided missiles going to know that I’m sitting there as they approach me doing 65 from the rear with the “driver” sound asleep?
The idea here is to have commute times on clogged freeways reduced. Autonomous cars can run at freeway speeds literally tailgating each other down the road without hitting each other. Cali’s biggest concern from an emissions stand point is the hours long bumper to bumper traffic in a stop and go pattern for miles.
Since many younger generations have no care for driving or getting a license; I would not be surprised if this becomes more popular in the decades to come.
Just think. No DUI. Get drunk. Tell your car to go home and pass out. LOL
Everybody else can save the enviorment ill drive my model A! Open headers WIDE OPEN!
This is not a democracy. There are no Dems or Reps. It is an attempt at lulling the masses into a cult-like, zombie state so the elitist can play with our money for there own personal gains. Everything from SSI, public housing, TV, the interweb I’m using now, and bullshit like this life size remote control car are used to appease the disenchanted and numb the mind so we can be monitored, controlled, and our attention averted away from the real play. There is no advantage in safety, you’re a sitting duck for other, uncontrolled cars. Bet I can’t get a straight shift one of these, can I? I hope this rant doesn’t get me on any more Gov lists.
I do bet this would make a good bracket car, though.
I think 10% of the cars I encounter on the roads appear to be driverless or at least have clueless drivers.
Can’t wait to see how they do in a thunderstorm.
My satellite tv goes to shit.
I think it is time us hot rodders to pull what Romney’s family did. Lets make a hot rod colony in Mexico! Who’s coming with me?
I think the only silver lining to this idea is if they get their own lane lined with extra large K-rails so when they go hay-wire the wreck is contained. Meanwhile, we get to enjoy a less crowded road and hopefully not deal with the lazy brain dead morons.
I don’t think it’s such a bad idea…
Hear me out, I think that people who would want one of those rolling piece of crap are people who don’t like driving and who drive like idiots.anyways. Can computer really do worst than these people? You know the kind, they’re already texting, eating, drinking, reading and doing a bunch of things other than driving, the swerve and change lanes without ever putting their blinkers on, you won’t be getting none of that with these. They’ll drive in a very predictable kind of way and all you’ll have to do is drive around them because they’ll always be in the right lane and following the speed limit, think about it… no more moron in the left lane 5mph under the speed limit. Not only should they be available, they should be IMPOSED on some people.
Doc,
I see where you are coming from and it def was something I did not think about and is a great point.
What worries me more is this seems to be a beta test. Imagine if this program is a huge success so good in fact that the ole government decides that no one should drive….
Glad I no longer live in California with that inept governor, its bad enough that the California DMV is no longer open 5 days a week, and you have to set up appointments there to get anything done. Now Jerry Brown approves self driving cars, just so that the state can “figure it out”? By all means Jerry, issue California’s first self driving cars to you,Nancy Palosi, and Barbera Boxer first – then “figure it out”.
“One last thing. Yes I know this is a rant, yes I know there are plenty of arguments against everything I’ve said, and maybe there are smarter people working on this than Chad Reynolds, but I doubt it.”
Man – have YOU got some ego! Just goes to show – give a guy a soapbox to stand on and he will eventually make a total ass out of himself. You have suceeded Chad . . . beyond your wildest dreams!
Stick to writing about car shows, drag races and posting videos of car wrecks. It’s what you do best. . .
“A man’s GOT to know his limitations”
Chad made an ass of himself looooooooooong ago, where the hell have you been?!
We have a similar problem with cars and registration discs. I live in South Australia , where for reasons only known to themselves , our politicians did away with displaying rego discs on your screen. This works fine if you dont want to venture out of our state. Recently the football finals were held in Melbourne , Victoria (another state). Where the masses of fans that were driving interstate were pinged by the fuzz for not having a displayed rego sticker on their screen to the tune of $270.00 (I’m not sure on that amount) but you see what I mean. As far as computers controlling traffic , heres an instance where the system doesnt work!
Some pimply faced 13 year old nerd is going to hack that hunk of crap and play bumper cars with it.