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Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

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Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#161
post #15

So can 100% public transport, non-autonomous. But there is less lobbying money for award winning journalists.

It's also easier to do shared housing but part of it is just that people like having their own personal dedicated space to exist in even if it's not the most efficient answer.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#162
post #80
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Insurance companies use detailed risk data. If they discover that letting you drive your own car is a much higher risk than an auto-drive, why should they not be allowed to account for that? Insurance companies aren't political -- they charge for whatever costs more.

>Insurance companies aren't political -- they charge for whatever costs more. Insurance companies you are required to interact with by law are absolutely political.

I meant they aren't political in their pricing. They don't charge less or more for something because it is considered liberal or conservative.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#164

Fatality data is extremely skewed. 44% of drivers aren't using a seatbelt, 29% are speeding related, I recall alcohol involvement being about 30%, though it's not listed in the link I checked. About 20% of automobile fatalities aren't in cars but are pedestrians or bicyclists struck by cars (add another 16% if you want to include motorcyclists, though only half of which involve another vehicle). I recall the percenta…

> Life in USA is extremely car-centric Mostly yes, but some states like NYC its more common to take trains, taxi cabs / Uber / Lyft, etc.

As much as people who live in NYC like to believe they're a state they're not, they're a city. Most of the state of New York does not have good public transit.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#166
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rental scooters/bikes cover last mile service very well in my experience. I use transit a great deal more than I would if I had to walk so much on either end of the trip.

Americans would rather die than give up their air conditioned bubbles on wheels. I've wondered why someone hasn't tried manufacturing an enclosed go kart with AC and enough trunk space for a few groceries.

Regulation kills the value proposition. You are basically describing a "neighborhood electric vehicle", but US law limits them to 25 mph, and it is not legal to drive them on many arterials, so they are only really useful inside communities which were designed for them.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Life in USA is extremely car-centric Mostly yes, but some states like NYC its more common to take trains, taxi cabs / Uber / Lyft, etc.

As much as people who live in NYC like to believe they're a state they're not, they're a city. Most of the state of New York does not have good public transit.

Pedantically true. By population density, NYC is essentially the whole state, or what matters anyway, to the huge majority of residents.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#168

I'd much rather all of the resources that are going into autonomous cars was instead going into proper public transit infrastructure. Cars are so hopelessly space and energy inefficient, and I hate driving them. If I could get around by bus, light rail, bike, and all of the wasted city space devoted to parking could be turned into more housing and amenities, that would be great. I think it would be meaningful to also…

AVs and public transportation are not comparable. The cumulative lifetime investment in Waymo would not fund even half a year of capital expenses for the New York MTA, for example.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#169

Fatality data is extremely skewed. 44% of drivers aren't using a seatbelt, 29% are speeding related, I recall alcohol involvement being about 30%, though it's not listed in the link I checked. About 20% of automobile fatalities aren't in cars but are pedestrians or bicyclists struck by cars (add another 16% if you want to include motorcyclists, though only half of which involve another vehicle). I recall the percenta…

> The majority of drivers are good

Well, 80% of us believes ourselves to be above average, so there's that.

Re: Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives

#170

The most likely scenario at this point it: - autonomous cars cause fewer accidents - so either insurance will be cheaper for them - AND/OR human driving car insurance goes up - even if only one happens, the relative cost of insurance will change in favor of autonomous - driving your own car becomes a kind of "prestige" thing where only really wealthy people do it (similar to owning your own plane etc)

Waymo is already self-insured so if they have an advantage it's already on their balance sheet. In California nobody is going to get a discount for having ADAS software because we encoded into the state law in the 1980s, part of a long magical thinking campaign by boomers, that insurance companies can't use that type of thing to set prices.
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