201–210 of 286 posts
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)
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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…
Precisely. Widespread knowledge would lead to tampering. I was reading a recent insurance case where the driver staged and accident, but the black box indicated what really happened, and the driver withdrew the claim when presented with the evidence. Widespread data logging including dash cams is going to improve driver behaviour. Even some cyclists are wearing 'dashcams' and this will no doubt improve treatment of a…
This is why we’ve programmed our cars to pause briefly after a light turns green before proceeding into the intersection I programmed my brain to do this after learning to drive in Miami. I always look both ways before proceeding, just as I would before crossing as a pedestrian. When approaching an intersection, especially at night, I also try to look for what's coming from the side. Intersections can be scary places…
> I programmed my brain to do this after learning to drive in Miami. Same after living in Orlando and now New York. Just because you have the right of way doesn't mean it's safe. The 2 ton block of metal that hits your meaty body at 45 miles per hour doesn't care that societal rules said you were safe to cross.
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Automatically != instantaneously. You'd have to make sure the car is far away enough that speed(car)^2/distance(you, car) You can't play blindfolded frogger. EDIT: "friction" is a better function name than "mu", even though we all feel nostalgic for high school physics.
There is a table saw that stops the blade the instant it senses the capacitance of a finger. It completely ruins the saw but saves the finger. Something like that could work here if the car could see the pedestrian far enough in advance to stay within parameters. Ruins the road and the car not the pedestrian.
I also don't see how a car could dive below the roadway instantly. Roads don't have car-sized holes in them. Usually.
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I see a future where governments will make a laws about "manual control" like they make laws about airbags, minimum mileage and TPMS now. In 2025 automakers simply won't be allowed to make a "manual control" car, and by 2050 there will be basically none left on the roads.
While I don't doubt things will move in this direction, dates like this seem extremely optimistic. Just speaking of the US, there are something like 250 million cars on the roads, and we buy cars at the rate of about 12-16 million a year. While I can see fully autonomous cars becoming available in the next decade, it will be some time before all manufacturers have refined enough systems, and legalization is in place,…
The model I see that will remove individually-owned, occupant driven vehicles will some variation of:
My company will purchase your auto and credit you some amount of haulage on my autocar network, and perhaps some cash. For the low income people using sub-$1,000 cars a token amount of credit will be sufficient. The real value for them will be the convenience and reliability of transport they get from my system. Imagine not losing your hard-won job because your "beater" car failed at an inopportune time. Imagine not having unexpected car expenses that make you choose between, say, food and transportation.
The higher-end market will be a tougher sell, but there are likely productivity, personal time, and environmental impact arguments that can be made there.
I'll sell your car (likely at a loss) in some area when I haven't achieved market penetration yet (or for salvage). Once you're bought-in to my network you might leave me for a competitor, but ideally I'll use regulation, contractual lock-in, and other tools to attempt to keep Customers tied to my product until I've recouped my initial investment.
I think it could work. I don't particularly like it, but I think it has at least a non-zero possibility of happening.
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I think it is extremely likely that hailing and renting a self driving will be much, much cheaper than owning, maintaining and insuring your own vehicle.
Except it will never be cheaper than public transportation. If public transportation is available, they will take public transportation. If public transportation is not available, neither will be driverless taxis.
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Probably very unlikely unless you solve poverty.
It's a myth that poor people drive. They depend on biking, walking, bumming rides from their friends and relatives, and public transportation.
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Automatically != instantaneously. You'd have to make sure the car is far away enough that speed(car)^2/distance(you, car) You can't play blindfolded frogger. EDIT: "friction" is a better function name than "mu", even though we all feel nostalgic for high school physics.
There is a table saw that stops the blade the instant it senses the capacitance of a finger. It completely ruins the saw but saves the finger. Something like that could work here if the car could see the pedestrian far enough in advance to stay within parameters. Ruins the road and the car not the pedestrian.
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…
It doesn't need to be spelled out that crashes are not evenly distributed between the driving population, and taking the 20% worst drivers off the road is going to reduce crashes by 80%.
My insurance rates are low because of a very good driving history despite owning high powered cars. I don't see any reasons why that would change.
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)
Less ironically, I'm looking forward to pushing a button on the dashboard of my ambulance that automatically preempts the road ahead.