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The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

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Re: The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

#81

Post by benkuykendall »

jcromartie wrote: post #79
NovaS1X wrote: post #51

I want to hear the argument about people who want to drive. I enjoy driving. I like driving cars. I still drive a manual and will not buy an automatic transmission. I participate in car clubs and I compete in autocross events. I enjoy automotive photography and I do my own maintenance on my vehicles. What happens to people like me who actually enjoy driving and the act of owning a car? Do my loves get phased out beca…

Self-driving cars will still have manual controls, for all of the minutiae at the beginning and end of a trip (mostly to do with parking).

Does the Google car not do parking?

Re: The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

#82

Post by tdees40 »

NovaS1X wrote: post #51

I want to hear the argument about people who want to drive. I enjoy driving. I like driving cars. I still drive a manual and will not buy an automatic transmission. I participate in car clubs and I compete in autocross events. I enjoy automotive photography and I do my own maintenance on my vehicles. What happens to people like me who actually enjoy driving and the act of owning a car? Do my loves get phased out beca…

I wonder if there will come a day when you can still drive your car, but you'll have to pay exorbitant insurance rates. That seems like a reasonable midpoint.

Re: The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

#83

Post by agumonkey »

freehunter wrote: post #76
agumonkey wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Happy to hear that. I don't know why it's not advertised more, it's reassuring and enforcing at the same time. Maybe people would flock toward log-free models out of a reflex to drive carelesly.

That's probably why it's not advertised. Because your car will tattle on you. I've often wondered about the black box in my car, if I were in an accident and I was going 71mph in a 70mph and they pulled by black box, would I be given a ticket even though I was not at fault? Although I'm pretty sure only the manufacturer has access to this data (as part of their copyright on the car), so it would take a warrant for la…

Agreed. The issue when collecting data is that it's a rabbithole, you need to have a lot of data to avoid shallow judgement, and careful jurors too. Going at 71 (74,75) instead of 70 might turn against you, but if you have enough evidence that the other vehicle would have it you even at 70mph then the system will work.

Re: The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

#84

Post by munificent »

vlunkr wrote: post #66
comrade1 wrote: post #4

One thing I'm looking forward to with self-driving cars is to be able to step into a street anywhere and have all the traffic stop automatically. Every inch of street now becomes a crosswalk. Even highways. (This is an ironic statement)

In all seriousness though, what would happen in this case? Do self-driving cars have emergency stop procedures? And how safe are they? This is still a serious concern about self-driving cars for me. Especially since digital image recognition still isn't that great. What if the car sees a tumbleweed that it mistakes for a boulder and puts it into emergency stop mode?

> Do self-driving cars have emergency stop procedures?

Yes, of course! Just staying on a road is a piece of cake. Most of the research for self-driving cars is dealing with unexpected cars and pedestrians.

> And how safe are they?

According to the article, 1.7m miles driven without at at-fault accident. Self-driving cars drive very conservatively.

> What if the car sees a tumbleweed that it mistakes for a boulder and puts it into emergency stop mode?

Probably the same thing that happens when humans make visual mistakes: it would slow down and stop.

Of course, the self-driving car is looking at the tumbleweed in the visible spectrum, using LIDAR, maybe IR and probably some other sensors. We just have our squishy eyeballs.

Re: The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

#85

Post by jedberg »

I'll admit that every time I see one of the self driving cars, I'm tempted to do something crazy nearby to see what it does, like cut it off or swerve towards it.

So far I've been a responsible adult and not done that But it's so tempting. Until I think of all the lives I will put in danger. Maybe they can invite me to a test track so I can be an a-hole to the self driving car in a safe and controlled environment. :)

Re: The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

#86

Post by jcromartie »

trequartista wrote: post #70
NovaS1X wrote: post #51

I want to hear the argument about people who want to drive. I enjoy driving. I like driving cars. I still drive a manual and will not buy an automatic transmission. I participate in car clubs and I compete in autocross events. I enjoy automotive photography and I do my own maintenance on my vehicles. What happens to people like me who actually enjoy driving and the act of owning a car? Do my loves get phased out beca…

Driving isn't going to go anywhere, but I can see driving being "penalized" via exorbitant insurance rates - so much so that the it probably might offset the cost of buying a manually driven car. It'll probably end up being a hobby, albeit an expensive one.

Wouldn't insurance rates just go down in general? Car insurance would be incredibly streamlined with self-driving cars.

Re: The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

#87

Post by masklinn »

pdxandi wrote: post #40
xnxn wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can already stop traffic by doing this. Why not give it a go? ;) On a serious note: I'm sure strolling into highway traffic will be approximately as legal as it is presently.

All joking aside, that's exactly how traffic works in Portland.

Also belgium and germany. Getting too close to the street/sidewalk interface will often cause cars to stop even if you have no intension whatsoever of crossing.

Re: The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

#88

Post by NovaS1X »

nazgulnarsil wrote: post #73
NovaS1X wrote: post #51

I want to hear the argument about people who want to drive. I enjoy driving. I like driving cars. I still drive a manual and will not buy an automatic transmission. I participate in car clubs and I compete in autocross events. I enjoy automotive photography and I do my own maintenance on my vehicles. What happens to people like me who actually enjoy driving and the act of owning a car? Do my loves get phased out beca…

I want to hear the argument about people who want to ride. I enjoy riding. I like riding horses. I still ride a horse and will not buy an automobile. I participate in riding clubs and I compete in horse racing events. I enjoy horse photography and I do my own hoof maintenance on my steeds. What happens to people like me who actually enjoy riding and the act of owning a horse? Do my loves get phased out because the ma…

Didn't think of the horse perspective. Thanks for that.

Still feels bad that some I love doing every day will be regulated to somewhere far removed from where I live and done only a few times a month at best.

Re: The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

#89

Post by anigbrowl »

NovaS1X wrote: post #51

I want to hear the argument about people who want to drive. I enjoy driving. I like driving cars. I still drive a manual and will not buy an automatic transmission. I participate in car clubs and I compete in autocross events. I enjoy automotive photography and I do my own maintenance on my vehicles. What happens to people like me who actually enjoy driving and the act of owning a car? Do my loves get phased out beca…

Rent time on a track pr a private road. You can have all the excitement you want, and if you crash there's no risk to the rest of the public.

Re: The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car

#90

Post by munificent »

the8472 wrote: post #33
coldcode wrote: post #31

I want to know how the person playing the trumpet was able to drive. And how well did they play?

I guess by actuating the steering wheel with their knees

I'd be more impressed if they actuated the trumpet with their knees.
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