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The latest chapter for the self-driving car: mastering city street driving

googleblog.blogspot.com

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Re: The latest chapter for the self-driving car: mastering city street driving

#211

Post by beachstartup »

scoofy wrote: post #198
josefresco wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll back that as soon as a system to force bicyclists to abide by traffic laws is required.

Replace bike with car. You seem to think that drivers are not massive traffic law violators? Speeding, double parking, tailgating, failing to signal, need i go on? Expecting an entire group to act like pristine angels before life saving laws can be put in place is asinine at best.

the problem is bicyclists tend to do things that are far more dangerous / serious:

* running red lights * running stop signs * driving down the wrong side of the road * driving on sidewalks

bikes are far less dangerous than cars, which is why nobody minds that they routinely break far worse rules. in addition, bicyclists routinely break the rules you mentioned.

Re: The latest chapter for the self-driving car: mastering city street driving

#213

Post by pinaceae »

bertil wrote: post #183
pinaceae wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because it is a multi-purpose vehicle. i drive a car to work, single passenger. i drive the car to buy stuff, with my wife, 2 passengers, plus hauling stuff in the trunk. i drive the car to various places on the weekend, wife plus kid plus shit in the trunk. i bought it to cover multiple transportation scenarios I encounter on a weekly basis. it also has a certain size to protect me in an accident. bumping into somet…

Actually, with self-driving cars, it’s likely that those four activity could be handled by different vehicles that you would only rent for the time you need them. If the law allows them to drive empty, they could go to the next user on their own, and reduce both waste parking, and inefficiencies like the ones you describe. Such plans are however more likely to happen in areas where those issues are more dire (concent…

sure, but this why ownership as a concept is actually quite nice - i can decide right now to do something with my car. i don't need to plan ahead. i am not dependent on anybody else. i gladly pay for that luxury.

Re: The latest chapter for the self-driving car: mastering city street driving

#214

Post by Already__Taken »

sixQuarks wrote: post #212

What happens when some asshole with some knowledge of the algorithm decides to troll commuters? For example, standing around an intersection, pretending to move forward/backward, forcing cars to just stop there.

We'll all be a little bit later somewhere and nobody has to die in traffic collisions.

Re: The latest chapter for the self-driving car: mastering city street driving

#216

Post by eric_cc »

sixQuarks wrote: post #212

What happens when some asshole with some knowledge of the algorithm decides to troll commuters? For example, standing around an intersection, pretending to move forward/backward, forcing cars to just stop there.

I would assume the same thing that would happen to some asshole standing at a busy intersection today holding up traffic by standing in the road.

Re: The latest chapter for the self-driving car: mastering city street driving

#217

Post by robrenaud »

sixQuarks wrote: post #212

What happens when some asshole with some knowledge of the algorithm decides to troll commuters? For example, standing around an intersection, pretending to move forward/backward, forcing cars to just stop there.

Standing in the middle of the intersection is going to be an effective way to stop cars even if they have human drivers.

Re: The latest chapter for the self-driving car: mastering city street driving

#218

Post by Already__Taken »

eigenvector wrote: post #174
rpedela wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah and I think a larger problem is deer or other animals running into the road especially at night. I don't know if the Google car can handle that situation yet, but the sensors should be able to see animals way before humans can.

Many (most?) car/deer/moose collisions are unavoidable even for a human driver. In particular, because a human driver focuses on monitoring the road ahead, they cannot determine instantaneously whether it is optimal to continue straight and hit the animal or to swerve into oncoming traffic or the adjacent lane. The reflex reaction is to swerve which can often cause an even worse accident. Humans also can't process th…

Plus what can you car do to save you given the context of the accident it's about to have? That's a very cool idea.
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