Autonomous Vehicles

[thør]

Are we ready?

Budweiser delivered by self driving truck.

You'd think it would have been Coors.

Are you ready for self-driving big rigs out on the highways?

 

[Stewart_Pidd]

Are we ready?

Budweiser delivered by self driving truck.

You'd think it would have been Coors.

Are you ready for self-driving big rigs out on the highways?

seems better than having tired drivers on the road bro.

Stew

 

[thør]

seems better than having tired drivers on the road bro.

Stew

Indeed. Take the drivers out of the picture. Now send the trucks out into the traffic.

 

[BoyNextDoor]

Jumping ahead a little - are we heading to "only" driverless cars? Having a mix of people and autonomous vehicles seems more dangerous than all autonomous vehicles.

To the OP - yep. I am ready. I think it is overdue. When do we get the flying cars?

 

[juttjaw]

A couple of miles away from me, a trucker fell asleep going through a small town. He was traveling 65mph and took out a whole car lot. Luckily this was about 0530 and no one was in the office of the lot. It pushed cars through the side wall of the office. I'm not saying that I'm ready for one to be on the road with no one in it. However, it has to be a viable option.

 

[Stewart_Pidd]

Jumping ahead a little - are we heading to "only" driverless cars? Having a mix of people and autonomous vehicles seems more dangerous than all autonomous vehicles.

To the OP - yep. I am ready. I think it is overdue. When do we get the flying cars?

will there be accidents if we have a mix of driverless cars and manually driven cars? yes. will driverless cars be abiding by the rules of the road, and driving correctly? I would say yes. so it seems to me that fault would lie with the vehicle that is driven by someone who is a true danger to others on the road bro.

Stew

 

[trysail]

Are we ready?

Budweiser delivered by self driving truck.

You'd think it would have been Coors.

Are you ready for self-driving big rigs out on the highways?

The tort lawyers and ambulance chasers are waiting in eager anticipation; they're already drooling.

There will be a truly deep pocket to pursue; Goggle (sic) will be named as a defendant on every single complaint.




​

 

[thør]

Honestly, I don't spend a lot of time on the highways down in the lower 48. But when I do, they seem like a mess, with a lot of traffic and enough vehicles traveling erratically to make things dangerous should a driver have a lapse in presence of mind. Of course, the computer in the truck would never have a lapse. And it would always do the right thing....

Must be time for a beer.

 

[Stewart_Pidd]

Honestly, I don't spend a lot of time on the highways down in the lower 48. But when I do, they seem like a mess, with a lot of traffic and enough vehicles traveling erratically to make things dangerous should a driver have a lapse in presence of mind. Of course, the computer in the truck would never have a lapse. And it would always do the right thing....

Must be time for a beer.

would driverless vehicles have morality programming? a variation of Asimovs Three Laws. so that if the computer has to choose, it can choose between killing one person or several people bro.

Stew

 

[chillywilly2]

I can understand the concept and can see it coming, but, I don't think the driver should have gone to the sleeper and put his feet up during a test run.
Thats just asking for trouble

 

[ryan8558]

Honestly, I don't spend a lot of time on the highways down in the lower 48. But when I do, they seem like a mess, with a lot of traffic and enough vehicles traveling erratically to make things dangerous should a driver have a lapse in presence of mind. Of course, the computer in the truck would never have a lapse. And it would always do the right thing....

Must be time for a beer.

http://www.star-telegram.com/living/qeeh0i/picture97136362/ALTERNATES/FREE_640/TuppsPoblano

 

[thør]

would driverless vehicles have morality programming? a variation of Asimovs Three Laws. so that if the computer has to choose, it can choose between killing one person or several people bro.

Stew

Let's hope there's something in there.

I can understand the concept and can see it coming, but, I don't think the driver should have gone to the sleeper and put his feet up during a test run.
That's just asking for trouble

Hell, Otto doesn't care about killing a driving monitor. It's better to cavalier than cautious.

 

[Hard_Rom]

Unmanned trucks may the best use for the system. Keep the speed governed, keep them in the slow lane and no hazardous materials.

When you drive the Ontario highway 401 you will see it is a truck road. It carries 60% of vehicular trade between Canada and the US. I can easily see it becoming almost like a rail train system. I would prefer a rail train system to transport the goods.

From Windsor to London the 401 is known as "Carnage Alley". It is dead arrow straight running through flat featureless farmland. Notorious for driver inattention accidents. Most by passenger cars though.

I would like to see autonomous cars on the 401. Humans are to stupid to drive! They say driving is one of the most complex things humans do. It involves so much of our senses, sight, hearing and even seat of the pants sensations. You have to process a lot of information to drive safely.

If everybody drove tiny electric autonomous vehicles the roads would be a lot safer. And autonomous trucks heavily speed governed would save fuel and time as they could drive 24/7, aside from maintenance intervals.

 

[sr71plt]

Are you ready for self-driving big rigs out on the highways?

Only if they institute separate--and separated--lanes for such traffic. I don't want anything on the road without someone in the driver's seat and with control of the vehicle. I don't even use cruise control.

 

[about_average]

I'm not sure I want vehicles deciding who lives and who dies.

 

[Emerson40]

Are we ready?

Budweiser delivered by self driving truck.

You'd think it would have been Coors.

Are you ready for self-driving big rigs out on the highways?

I think we are close.

I'd like to see a combo driver / technology thing first, where the vehicle has a human driver but the technology looks after key, safety operations, such as speed, safe following distances, when it is safe to change lanes or pass (blind spot, gap between vehicles, speed / distance of approaching vehicles, as well as immobilizing the vehicle if certain, critical components - tires, brakes, lighting, even wiper blades - are not properly maintained and or replaced.

A vehicle with a driver should not require a computer to keep the wheels between the lines, or to parallel park. If the driver is not capable of this, he / she should not be behind the wheel.


Has anyone thought to address the displacement of the hundreds, possibly many thousand of lot lizards, that will occur when big rigs go driverless?
Will they be offered some vocational training on updating the GPS and Windows 15 software in the eighteen wheeler's dashboard tablet?

 

[Brollyanna]

would driverless vehicles have morality programming? a variation of Asimovs Three Laws. so that if the computer has to choose, it can choose between killing one person or several people bro.

Stew

I read this yesterday: http://www.vocativ.com/370898/mercedes-autonomous-cars-protect-driver-over-pedestrians/

 

[about_average]

I read this yesterday: http://www.vocativ.com/370898/mercedes-autonomous-cars-protect-driver-over-pedestrians/

Eventually they'll probably decide who should die based on the person's age and other criteria like occupation, income, tax contributions, charity donations, health conditions, etc.. We'll have "worthiness to survive scores" and when a crash can't be avoided the vehicles will communicate with each other and decide on which one's driver/passengers are more worthy to survive. The least worthy's vehicle will sacrifice the occupant(s) in order to save the occupants of the other vehicle.

 

[phrodeau]

The Clydesdales have a pretty good driving record, and we know that they often have drunk drivers.

 

[Stewart_Pidd]

Eventually they'll probably decide who should die based on the person's age and other criteria like occupation, income, tax contributions, charity donations, health conditions, etc.. We'll have "worthiness to survive scores" and when a crash can't be avoided the vehicles will communicate with each other and decide on which one's driver/passengers are more worthy to survive. The least worthy's vehicle will sacrifice the occupant(s) in order to save the occupants of the other vehicle.

profit quotients and loss margins bro.

Stew

 

[BoyNextDoor]

There are approximately 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the United States, according to estimates by the American Trucking Association. As of 2012, in the United States: the total number of taxi cab drivers is 233,900. As of 2015 there were 665,000 bus drivers.

That is close to 4.1 million jobless people over the next 5-8 years. They all can't become computer programmers and mechanics for their automated replacements.

 

[RoryN]

Having the car negotiate a traffic jam on a Friday afternoon while I drink an early-weekend cocktail will happen in my lifetime.

I'm okay with this.

 

[trysail]

There are approximately 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the United States, according to estimates by the American Trucking Association. As of 2012, in the United States: the total number of taxi cab drivers is 233,900. As of 2015 there were 665,000 bus drivers.

That is close to 4.1 million jobless people over the next 5-8 years. They all can't become computer programmers and mechanics for their automated replacements.

They can all go to work for:

• Big Government or
• Big Education or
• they can all become investment bankers or
• they can all become journalists for NPR, the NY Times and the WaPo or
• they can become ambulance chasing tort lawyers or
• they can deliver home pizzas or
• they can become Hollywood producers or
• they can become social justice workers or
• they can become climatologists or
• they can become lobbyists.

​

 

[RoryN]

They can all go to work for:

• Big Government or
• Big Education or
• they can all become investment bankers or
• they can all become journalists for NPR, the NY Times and the WaPo or
• they can become ambulance chasing tort lawyers or
• they can deliver home pizzas or
• they can become Hollywood producers or
• they can become social justice workers or
• they can become climatologists or
• they can become lobbyists.

​

I think it's HILARIOUS that one of your suggestions will almost certainly be done by autonomous cars in the future.

 

[LadyFunkenstein]

There are approximately 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the United States, according to estimates by the American Trucking Association. As of 2012, in the United States: the total number of taxi cab drivers is 233,900. As of 2015 there were 665,000 bus drivers.

That is close to 4.1 million jobless people over the next 5-8 years. They all can't become computer programmers and mechanics for their automated replacements.

This is precisely the point. These technological advances are intended to further concentrate wealth in the hands of very few (in this case tech owners). Eroding lower and mid-income jobs are a part of the plan.

These displaced truckers can go pour coffee at Starbucks or stock shelves at Walmart.