Are there current or projected estimates of death toll from accidents vs from climate effects?
Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That
11–20 of 72 posts
Re: Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That
#12The title of this article is unsupported by its contents. The only mention of self-driving cars in the article outside of the title is in this paragraph:
> There are many who say that autonomous or smart cars will solve this. So far, I’m unpersuaded. Since 2014, over $80 billion dollars has been spent on “smart” or connected cars (more on these in a minute) and autonomous vehicles, arguably to make cars safer. But investing in the car of the future is investing in the wrong problem.
So the only evidence the author presents that "Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That" is the amount of money that's been spent on the problem so far? I don't see how that proves anything.
Re: Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That
#13by this logic, life is a death machine
Re: Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That
#14One thing I found very useful when driving a car was buying a clip-on wide-angle mirror for $15. It made it much easier to have constant awareness of what was on the right-hand (passenger) side of my vehicle.
I’d urge you to get it if you drive in a city with cyclists and worry about killing another human.
Re: Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That
#15It seems somewhat silly to only talk about the negative aspects of cars. What about all the benefits? If you stop and think about it, cars are truly revolutionary. Even many low income people can buy a machine that will travel 50 miles (at 70 mph) on a gallon of liquid that costs $3. It not only allows individuals the freedom to travel, vehicles power a massive transportation network that brings food to our tables an…
It appeared that our man-made environment expanded to fit the requirement and capabilities of the car rather than the other way around.
Re: Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That
#16Not by itself; but if the high-speed crash rate drops to almost nothing we can make cars much lighter and lower; reverse the SUV arms-race that has made the streets more deadly than ever.
> if the high-speed crash rate drops to almost nothing The high-speed crash rate is almost nothing - statistically speaking. Most accidents are on city streets at relatively low speeds. What more, statistically speaking for number of miles driven, we already have a near-zero rate of fatalities. Can it be better? Sure, but it will never be entirely zero, even with full automation for all road vehicles. > reverse the S…
.. is not "solely" driven by the desire for a safer vehicle. That does play some part in the decision for an SUV in my experience
Re: Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That
#17It seems somewhat silly to only talk about the negative aspects of cars. What about all the benefits? If you stop and think about it, cars are truly revolutionary. Even many low income people can buy a machine that will travel 50 miles (at 70 mph) on a gallon of liquid that costs $3. It not only allows individuals the freedom to travel, vehicles power a massive transportation network that brings food to our tables an…
That's not a hard argument to make, at all. The world pre and post car is a completely different place.
That said, the step towards Self Driving Cars will not be even close to the same level of revolutionary, and so discussing the negative aspects is important here so we don't have an 'ends justify the means' situation on our hands.
Re: Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That
#18The title of this article is unsupported by its contents. The only mention of self-driving cars in the article outside of the title is in this paragraph: > There are many who say that autonomous or smart cars will solve this. So far, I’m unpersuaded. Since 2014, over $80 billion dollars has been spent on “smart” or connected cars (more on these in a minute) and autonomous vehicles, arguably to make cars safer. But in…
The argument is simpler, they're saying they don't care how much progress has been made because they want cars to go away, not get safer.
Re: Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That
#19Cars don't kill anywhere near as many people in Europe, though. The US is an outlier when it comes to first-world countries.
Still, I would like it if the power was taken back from from cars on the road. Cars should be a third-class road user, below bicycles and pedestrians.
My idea for improving driver quality is to do what pilots do. Before you are even allowed behind the wheel of a car you must have proven experience using the road on a non-motorised vehicle like a bicycle. Then you can apply for a small car. After some experience with that you can apply for a large car if you need to. It's insane that we let kids drive cars before they've even learnt how to use road.
Re: Cars Are Death Machines. Self-Driving Tech Won’t Change That
#20It seems somewhat silly to only talk about the negative aspects of cars. What about all the benefits? If you stop and think about it, cars are truly revolutionary. Even many low income people can buy a machine that will travel 50 miles (at 70 mph) on a gallon of liquid that costs $3. It not only allows individuals the freedom to travel, vehicles power a massive transportation network that brings food to our tables an…
I feel like this goes without saying. I doubt there are more than a few people would argue with anything you wrote above.
The trends are basically flat to declining long term for deaths, alongside significant growth in total miles driven - indicating things are consistently getting safer for everyone.
So the author is clearly cherry picking data with anecdotes.
The author doesn't even attempt to have a measured argument here and I think this is an example of how people are thinking "both extremes" need be heard but just assuming the "cars are revolutionary" is the extreme on the other side.