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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

#261

Post by resurge »

masklinn wrote: post #87
pdxandi wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm Belgian and now living in Norway, it's even "worse" here. It's really one of the first things you notice when being here.

Being a few meters off from a crosswalk cars will stop while they would easily be able to drive on before you (Which they would do in Belgium).

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

#262

Post by toothbrush »

happyscrappy wrote: post #122
afarrell wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Wow, that's super neat, i'd never heard of it. Seems like something that should be absolutely mandatory for all factories equipped with such devices! Go technology!

Here's a demonstration, it's very fluffy but it gets the point across. https://youtu.be/eiYoBbEZwlk

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

#263

Post by kabouseng »

What will be interesting will be how human behaviour will change once all cars are self driving cars. Some cyclist / pedestrians might blatantly cross a red light intersection because he knows the self driving cars will detect and stop for him... something to think about.

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

#264

Post by jpatokal »

digi_owl wrote: post #248
upofadown wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the day they tried the overlapping red thing in my city. Once everyone got used to the new way of doing things the time when both light were red became a sort of anarchy zone. Everyone assumed that everyone else would strictly observe the red so they didn't have to. We don't do that anymore...

I find myself reminded of an article about a German town that stripped out their lights and signs and just had everyone drive by basic priority rules. Apparently this sharply reduced incidents.

This basic principle also explains why roundabouts (traffic circles) are so much safer than traffic lights. They feel unsafe to drivers, so they slow down and pay attention, instead of blindly trusting the lights.

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

#265

Post by castell »

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 enjoy driving, but I dislike rush hour traffic / traffic jams.

Self-driving cars would be great to drive to the workplace and back home. But on weekend I want to drive myself on lonely scenic roads.

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

#266

Post by jpatokal »

thrownaway2424 wrote: post #150
branchan wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This is getting downvoted because it sounds pretty flippant from a US point of view, but it's actually perfectly accurate for most of the world. In much of Africa, you're middle class if you have a bicycle, and only the rich own cars. Motorcycles are wildly popular in much of Asia for the same reason: they're a lot more affordable than cars, not just to own but to operate as well.

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

#267

Post by kps »

Steuard wrote: post #177
rhino369 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some areas just give a "brief" period where both lights are red. I'm surprised not everywhere does, or that is isn't increased.

It doesn't work, or so I've heard. Drivers in those cities learn to expect the safety margin of the delay, and statistically they become more willing to run a red light right after it changes.

In the UK, the lights go [red] → [red+amber] →​ [green], so that drivers are ready to move as soon as the light turns green. People don't run red lights.

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

#268

Post by malka »

digi_owl wrote: post #248
upofadown wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the day they tried the overlapping red thing in my city. Once everyone got used to the new way of doing things the time when both light were red became a sort of anarchy zone. Everyone assumed that everyone else would strictly observe the red so they didn't have to. We don't do that anymore...

I find myself reminded of an article about a German town that stripped out their lights and signs and just had everyone drive by basic priority rules. Apparently this sharply reduced incidents.

If the roads feels less safer, there are less accidents. This happens when you reduce the lanes width as well. Or if you setup a fake roadwork

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

#269

Post by mavhc »

shkkmo wrote: post #192
branchan wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That could be true... assuming that the government is able to adopt innovations and cost saving measures across all of their public transit systems fast enough to keep up with price drops from private industry. I suspect that will not be the case. While public transportation may catch up on price (if the political will exists to push it there), I do think there will be a period of time where hailing a self driving ca…

Will there be a difference between a self driving 1-5 person machine and a self driving 5-1000 person machine?

A robotaxi can take you to the local robobus hub, which drives you to the local robotrain point, whereupon a Just In Time (un)scheduled train will leave, as all journeys can be coordinated.

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

#270

Post by malka »

spullara wrote: post #222
abruzzi wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,…

In a world with self-driving cars and a way to summon one at will, how many do you think we will need?

In a world where autonomous car are effectively autonomous on ALL roads, that could work. But we are really far from here. How does autonomous car fare when the infrastructure sucks ?
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