Safe for now

[barretcreek]

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-12/fords-self-driving-test-car-severely-damaged-crash

Of course, the problem will be determined to be too many non-autonomous cars. Once humans are eliminated as drivers, perfect Communism on the road.

[bruce]

Once upon a time cars were only human driven. With just a few little cars on the streets, there were wreaks. Now there are millions of cars on the streets. Reasonable to expect that some of the development will entail wreaks, some of which will be caused by human driven cars. Given time and development, computers will drive cars/trucks for routine tasks in much the same way that computers control many of the functions in flying passenger and cargo planes. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

[Dan Shapiro]

SkyNet here we come!

[Major Tom]

Anything run by a computer with no human in charge is sure to crash (pun intended). I don't fly anymore because of computer glitches at the airports. I won't be riding in a driver less car either. I'm also very leery of battery powered cars. Every battery powered tool I have has gone dead when I needed it.

[JB White]

How far ahead can computer cars see ahead in traffic? Does it know that when cars are all changing lanes a half mile up there is probably something in the road? Or, will it approach the obstacle and stop, thus creating a mile long jam behind it.
Will they travel at least +9 mph over the limit in favorable conditions or will they strictly adhere to safety causing a bottleneck?
When it comes to road rage you may as well be a favorite target.

[DarylBruce]

Getting on in years, thinking I may have to rely on my children and grandchildren for transportation, a self driving car is starting to sound ok. (Maybe)

[S.A. Boggs]

Getting on in years, thinking I may have to rely on my children and grandchildren for transportation, a self driving car is starting to sound ok. (Maybe)
With their GPS it is anybody's guess where you will end up. Once with GPS relied upon it in a large city, ended up in the "seedy" part of town without my friend Sigmund.
Sam

[bruce]

Re: Computer guided cars. It'll happen. Just like when cars were first driven by men ... then women. It'll happen. Speed limits? I have a GPS on the car that notes normal speed limits and displays them. No reason ground speed could not be handled the same way. Numerous companies are bringing to market cars that will automatically sense and response to obstructions in the road via braking the vehicle. If someone gets bent out of shape b/c your car is obeying the speed limit, no reason the car via camera could not report the miscreant to police with photo of the car, tag, location, time of day, etc. Would then be lots of fun for the offender to have to deal with whatever charges were pressed. Sometimes I remember fondly the days when my idea of a great truck was a 67 stepside Chevy w/ three on the tree, a single-barrel on top of a straight six and a AM radio. Nowadays ... most of us want a lot more from our vehicles. Computers already run our engines at levels of efficiency that would have seemed like voodoo in the 70's. Nowadays, even cheap cars do that much. Not unlikely that in the coming years people will view self-driving cars the same way we now view computer controlled engines, transmissions, etc. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

[bonnie]

We are just about there. Wife's Subaru Outback will slow down, stop, slam on the brakes emergency stop, accelerate, maintain a safe driving distance, bump the steering wheel to keep the car in the center of the lane (after three times it also tells you to keep your hands on the steering wheel), sound a warning if you get to close to the shoulder or center line, has lights that come on to illuminate the outside of a curve at night, etc., etc. You can get on the interstate, set the car speed, and never have to touch the brakes or accelerator pedal for hundreds of miles. Just doesn't work in heavy rain. But it will tell you that also. Also has heated seats which I am quickly getting used to in this cold weather.

[barretcreek]

Secret Service drove up from Denver for a wedding at a ranch outside of town. Nimitz class SUV using GPS drove past a sign stating "Experienced 4WD operators only beyond this point". Not the first idiots and won't be the last. They survived their stupidity; not everybody does on the Devil's Punchbowl.

[bruce]

Re: Secret Service. Can't see any reason for them to be messing around with a wedding. Not govt. business. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

[barretcreek]

Re: Secret Service. Can't see any reason for them to be messing around with a wedding. Not govt. business. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

A Bush was attending the wedding.

[JB White]

Re: Computer guided cars..... If someone gets bent out of shape b/c your car is obeying the speed limit, no reason the car via camera could not report the miscreant to police with photo of the car, tag, location, time of day, etc. Would then be lots of fun for the offender to have to deal with whatever charges were pressed.....

Tough luck for the person having an emergency. Eh there Orwell? ;) Let's hope nobody precious needs you quickly, or that you never suddenly have to take an Uh-Oh dump! Where I grew up tattle tales would either get their arses whupped and/or become the neighborhood pariah. Nobody would play with you once the word got out you were a ratfink. I reckon that's still with me.

Here's a scenario. Do computer cars pull out to pass on a two lane? Let's say Farmer Brown is moving his equipment from field A to field D. Will it just chug along behind while others safely pass when Farmer Brown pulls right but can't quite clear the lane? What about following a wide load such as a modular home? Call you late for dinner!
If they do pass, would they abort the pass upon seeing a vehicle approaching the highway from an access road or intersection up ahead? Hmmmm...I'll bet one could control all that via an app on a smart phone. So long as you have them all on the menu the car would eventually react to things like a deer standing on the shoulder.

Another: Do they automatically pull over and yield to emergency vehicles? Or...do you wake up from a nap to discover you've been the central focus of an OJ-type chase for the past half hour??:)

I want control of my car at all times. Heck, I rarely if ever use cruise control. But, I do see where it would be a boon to those who either can't or shouldn't drive anymore. If they were road ready I'd get one for my father tomorrow. Scratch that. With his data entry skills he'd be doing his shopping in Guatemala.

[bruce]

A Bush was attending the wedding. A individual related to a former president? So what? Just not anything the taxpayer should have to pay for. They want security, let them pay for it. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

[bruce]

Re: Luck, etc. Luck? Luck hasn't got anything to do with it. It is just the way things are. Nowadays no one expects to be able to take their man guided horse and carriage and go for a little ride into town, etc. w/o having to look for ways to avoid problems with the drivers of vehicles that dominate the primary and secondary highways/roads. It's that simple. Saddle up a horse and try to ride it along the road. Not to long after you start, the horse will be on its way to the vet for surgery or euthanasia. The rider will probably be on their way to the hospital. The man driving the car/truck ... his insurance company will be filing against the horseman's insurance company. Again, that's just the way it is. It doesn't matter if you have an emergency and are riding Trigger to the rescue. It doesn't matter if you are just going down the road for bread and milk.

Now ... as to "tattling," have you ever filed a police report? Why did you file it? Because that's the way the law works. You don't file a report, the police have no way to know a problem occurred. Nothing gets fixed. If a man breaks the law, he has no excuse for complaining when an otherwise law abiding citizen files a report with the police. That applies to any infraction of the law from people who don't control their dogs ... fail to control their livestock ... or fail to obey the rule of the road. Tattling? Getting beat up? That sort of silliness might be expected of a child having a difficult time transitioning from Pre-K to Kindergarten. That sort of silliness is not going to wash in an adult world were adults understand the law. Anyone who can't control their rage on the road is going to find themselves on the wrong end of the police officers pen when tickets are issued for breaking the law. It's that simple. The days are long gong when out of control people can excuse their out of control conduct by blaming someone else.

Scenarios? Get real. Lines were not even painted on roads/streets until some doctor figured out that it would greatly help reduce accidents. The same exact adaptation will occur w/ computers directing/driving cars/trucks. It just isn't rocket science. Maneuvering on the road, etc. is no different than doing the same thing in a parking lot, etc. Tractors, house movers etc., ... can't see a problem. I've moved irrigation systems down roads w/ tractors. We can't just do it willy nilly taking down signs, posts that get in the way of our turning, etc. They'll just have to make arrangements with the local police, etc. As to dinner, there's always McDonalds.

Now on to the be all to end all bugaboo of emergencies. Other than being highly overrated, the fact is that very few people are particularly good at driving through a bad situation on the road. They end up hitting things ... animals ... people. More than likely a computer driven vehicle will be safer for the simple reason that it will not get all upset, angry, afraid, etc. and jerk the wheel or stomp the breaks irrationally. Rather it will respond to the problem ... without all that adrenaline. Better for bicyclist/motor cycle riders, deer, occasional hogs and calves on the side of the road. Same thing would apply if one day you look up and find an ambulance in your rear-view. The computer driving the ambulance would likely communicate with the computer driving your car ... and your car would end up slowing down and pulling over so that the ambulance could go on to its destination.

Computer driven vehicles will upset some folks the same way cars and trucks upset those who insisted on using horses and wagons. The technology of the internal combustion engine powering cars and trucks pushed the horse and wagon into obsolescence. Roads were improved as a direct result of the needs of drivers in cars and trucks. Pedestrians were relegated to crossing streets at corners directed by lights to accommodate drivers of cars and trucks. And it goes on. Untold millions of people use cruise control every day of the week for trips long and short. It results in better fuel economy, less driver fatigue, etc. A tap of the brake or a button and everything is in your control. No reason the same or better cannot be done with computer driven cars. A real advantage of that will be that people with physical challenges, etc. will be able to remain or recover mobility... whether they are wheelchair bound or struggling with physical problems following a stroke or combat injury. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.