Driverless cars could change everything

[DaFace]

Thought this article was cool to think about.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-28376929

Driverless cars could change everything


For now, it seems like a novelty - cars that can operate independently of human control, safely cruising down streets thanks to an array of sensors and pinpoint GPS navigation.

But if the technology avoids getting crushed by government regulators and product liability lawsuits, writes the Federalist's Dan McLaughlin, it could prompt a cultural shift similar to the early 20th century move away from horses as the primary means of transportation.

First and foremost, he writes, the spread of driverless cars will likely greatly reduce the number of traffic accidents - which currently cost Americans $871b (£510b) a year.

"A truly driverless road would not be accident-free, given the number of accidents that would still be caused by mechanical and computer errors, weather conditions, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and sheer random chance," he says. "But it would make the now-routine loss of life and limb on the roads far rarer."

Computer-operated cars would eventually reshape car design, he says, as things like windshields - "a large and vulnerable piece of glass" - become less necessary. Drivers will be able to sit wherever they'd like in their cars, which could make car interiors more like mobile lounges than like cockpits.

The age required to operate a driverless car is likely to drop, he says. There could be an impact on the legal drinking age, as well, as preventing drunk driving was one of the prime justifications for the US-wide setting minimum age to purchase alcohol at 21 years old.

There's other possible economic fallout, McLaughlin contends, such as a restructuring of the auto insurance industry, the obsolescence of taxi drivers and lower ratings for drive-time radio programmes.

The high-tech security state will also get boost, he writes, as GPS-tagged cars will be easier to track, making life difficult for fugitives and car thieves. Police will also be able to move resources away from operations like traffic enforcement.

Of course, he writes, the towns that rely on speed traps to fund their government services will be facing budget shortfalls. Privacy advocates could also get an unexpected boost, he notes, since traffic stops are one of the main justifications for police vehicle searches.

Finally, there's the prospect of the as-yet-unrealised futurist dream of flying cars. With computer-controlled vehicles that strictly follow traffic rules, McLaughlin says, "the potential for three-dimensional roads becomes a lot less scary and more a matter of simply solving the technological challenge".

Where we're going, we may not need roads after all.

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by RINGLEADER

They have driverless taxis called Waymo testing in SF and in Vegas. Got a glimpse of this a couple weeks ago when I was there. To your point I think it will work once all the cars are interconnected and talking to each other — it’s the rogue human driver that is the problem.

Of course once we let the computers control our travel and AI infiltrates them we are doomed.

Well it's the rogue human driver, you can take my license away and let AI control everything over my dead body.

And AI driverless cars are fine once they are 100 times safer than those rogue human drivers...

But otherwise, driverless cars are here in 2018, I mean just around the corner.

[stevieray]

they're not cars, they're mobile computer pods.

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by stevieray

they're not cars, they're mobile computer pods data collecting devices with wheels.

FYP

[Pinchshot]

Do not comply

[HemiEd]

Your new robotaxi is only human after all.

On Tuesday, Cruise announced it would resume service in select markets, starting in Phoenix, after a five-month hiatus following an accident last year in which one of its vehicles ran over a pedestrian. The catch? Cruise’s robotaxis will now be in “manual mode” — meaning an actual human will be behind the wheel, driving the car as its computers gather more information on the local roads. We’ll be taking yellow cabs again at this point.


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