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BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

bbc.co.uk

21–30 of 144 posts

Re: BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

#21
post #16

This is bad news (despite being a BMW owner) In future driving will no longer be fun, if you want to drive "non-automated" car or disable "auto-pilot" your insurance company will automatically jack up your premium, since they would consider self driving cars "safer"

Disagree. Driving will now have increased insurance prices associated with increased risk. The roads will be safer.

Re: BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

#22
post #16

This is bad news (despite being a BMW owner) In future driving will no longer be fun, if you want to drive "non-automated" car or disable "auto-pilot" your insurance company will automatically jack up your premium, since they would consider self driving cars "safer"

[deleted]

Re: BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

#23
post #16

This is bad news (despite being a BMW owner) In future driving will no longer be fun, if you want to drive "non-automated" car or disable "auto-pilot" your insurance company will automatically jack up your premium, since they would consider self driving cars "safer"

Either that, or you'll take on some sort of hazard liability, and they'll find a way to see that you waive all coverage during the periods in which you're personally operating the vehicle.

Insurance companies have to compete on rate pricing to some extent, so there isn't too much room to move radically north there. But I could definitely see their getting into real-time pricing models, and/or denying coverage as a means of minimizing their responsibility in your agreement.

Re: BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

#24
post #16

This is bad news (despite being a BMW owner) In future driving will no longer be fun, if you want to drive "non-automated" car or disable "auto-pilot" your insurance company will automatically jack up your premium, since they would consider self driving cars "safer"

If you want to have fun, there will no doubt be private tracks where you can go and drive in a fun way. As someone who just gave up commuting about 1 traffic-laden hour each way, driving stopped being fun long, long ago.

Too many of my commutes were made an unnecessary 50% or more longer because of drivers who were probably having a lot of fun until they caused an accident and backed up the road for everyone else.

Re: BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

#25
post #16

This is bad news (despite being a BMW owner) In future driving will no longer be fun, if you want to drive "non-automated" car or disable "auto-pilot" your insurance company will automatically jack up your premium, since they would consider self driving cars "safer"

Is the cost to society (in lives lost) worth the cost to individual enjoyment?

The cost of all your enjoyment is your own life; you too will die.

It depends on how much pleasure you get out of driving. I certainly think it's worth some fraction of a life. And of course, a certain amount of the risk comes from inattentive drivers who don't enjoy driving, and would rather read a book or eat cereal (or both) on the road.

Re: BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

#26
post #16

This is bad news (despite being a BMW owner) In future driving will no longer be fun, if you want to drive "non-automated" car or disable "auto-pilot" your insurance company will automatically jack up your premium, since they would consider self driving cars "safer"

I think the lives of humans are more important than some thrill seekers who want to drive around a few tons of metal without paying extra.

Re: BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

#27
post #16

This is bad news (despite being a BMW owner) In future driving will no longer be fun, if you want to drive "non-automated" car or disable "auto-pilot" your insurance company will automatically jack up your premium, since they would consider self driving cars "safer"

Why the scare quotes on "safer"?

If self-driving cars prove objectively to have fewer accidents and resulting injuries and deaths, wouldn't that just make them a superior technology?

In that case, why shouldn't insurance charge more for traditional driving if self-driving were available on your car? That's just how insurance works, nothing new there.

Re: BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

#28
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the cost to society (in lives lost) worth the cost to individual enjoyment?

The cost of all your enjoyment is your own life; you too will die. It depends on how much pleasure you get out of driving. I certainly think it's worth some fraction of a life. And of course, a certain amount of the risk comes from inattentive drivers who don't enjoy driving, and would rather read a book or eat cereal (or both) on the road.

Car accidents have unfortunate side effects, in that generally more than one driver's life is put at risk.

Re: BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

#29
post #16

This is bad news (despite being a BMW owner) In future driving will no longer be fun, if you want to drive "non-automated" car or disable "auto-pilot" your insurance company will automatically jack up your premium, since they would consider self driving cars "safer"

I can't see any reason why we can't have both; you control the car until it detects a dangerous situation and then takes over. Sounds ideal really, you could go faster than you can now, safe in the knowledge that if things go bad the computer will kick in and take over.

Re: BMW shows off 'drifting' self-drive cars

#30
post #16

This is bad news (despite being a BMW owner) In future driving will no longer be fun, if you want to drive "non-automated" car or disable "auto-pilot" your insurance company will automatically jack up your premium, since they would consider self driving cars "safer"

We should expect that, assuming that self-driving cars are in fact safer, insurance rates will go down for people with self-driving cars, and remain the same for manual drivers.
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