Self-Driving cars?

[DarkneSS]

As much as I LOVE driving...

Auto cars would virtually eliminate accidents and traffic, making the world much more efficient and clean. Traffic cops would essentially become a thing of the past.

Think about how awesome it would be when you need gas to just hit a button in your home and your car will queue up to go get gas. Or schedule it to pick up your kid from school.

Sure you'd lose the love of driving, but you'd gain a ton of luxury and freedom as a result.

We who love driving as a hobby are in the minority unfortunately. Fortunately however the track industry would expand as an entertainment form. Ultimately you might even be able to have more fun having your auto car take you to a track to race all day. Then you can sleep while it drives you home.

Not to mention all the man hours wasted while people focus on driving to work everyday. You could wake up, shower, get in your car and eat breakfast and enjoy your favorite morning entertainment while you get driven to work. This would allow you to wake up later too, so more sleep.

I'll give you a hint, people are already enjoying this lifestyle right now, the RICH. They get driven around everywhere in limos lol.

As technology advances we get to enjoy the lifestyles that were once restricted to the rich.

I'll miss open road driving, but I'd ultimately be more happy with auto cars.

[CamaroSkooter]

Just imagine what would happen if you got a Check Engine Light...

[Number 3]

It's the future, like it or not.

Safer, more economical. Essentially will be far more than radar when implemented and many of those technologies are well on their way.

Look at the progression of the DARPA projects. Started out in the dessert and the last one had to navigate through the city.

I don't like it, not a fan. But it's coming.

[CookieCk]

I doubt a fully autonomous car will be mass produced anytime soon. Maybe in like 50years or so. Not saying the technology won't be there, it pretty much is already, but the work and cost to make it effective for the masses is too much for it to happen soon.

Just like I read an article about a few companies working on automated braking systems, when one car hits the brakes it sends a signal backwards so the cars behind it automatically apply the breaks, hence eliminating human reaction time. Sounds all fine and dandy, but for it to be effective every car would have to have the same exact system installed. Without everyone having the same system it's not really beneficial. Same with a fully autonomous car, it would only be effective at eliminating accidents and such if everybody had one, which won't happen unless every single car company starts producing only self-driving cars, and even then it would take years for the cars to trickle down and enough people be driving them. and then still, as mentioned, you'd always have environmental influences.

It'd just end up like electric vehicles are now, they've been making them for years and still I rarely see one on the road, even with all the benefits of them. Hybrids are slightly more common, but I don't know anybody that has one of those either. So even if they make it work just fine and start producing them, I wouldn't expect to see many of them on the road for years to come. By that time I'll hopefully be too old to drive myself anyways, because I would refuse to drive an autonomous car unless I was physically unable to drive myself.

[midnighter]

I'm a control freak. So NO!

[KXRM]

Why not just build trains at this point?

[Brokinarrow]

Would be great for daily commuters.

[Number 3]

Keep in mind, you will have a car that you can either control or turn over control to the "system".

All valid points, but 5 years ago a car that could park itself was crazy talk. Now you can get it on a regular old Ford.

Adaptive cruise control has now been suplemented with full on braking capability.

Look at the new Cadillac XTS commercial....................the car senses on coming traffic and alerts you through a haptic seat. Mercedes can tell if you are dozing.

It's all nearly there for reasonable costs. It will be a matter of acceptance more than anything else.

Also, you guys are forgetting that in cities like London you can't drive there during certain periods or hours. But if you have an EV that you can turn over to the grid or to the car itself and get access to those roads, accpetance might come quickly.

[upflying]

What if this became reality and only cars with the technology would be allowed on roadways designed for autonomous vehicles. Would those of us who choose to drive old cars or have to drive old cars due to financial reasons be excluded and discriminated from using the special road?
Would I be stuck on jammed frontage roads while the "driverless" cars whizz by on the fancy road? Bring on the attorneys.

[KXRM]

Actually it has been said many times that driver-less systems would have to be segregated from regular driver cars simply because of the efficiencies that could be gained by an automated system.

For instance, things that would be considered dangerous for a human driver like, high speeds, following closely and intersections where fractions of an inch is all that separates you from the cross traffic. It's just not possible to allow regular drivers in a system like that.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by ga0358

Would you ever consider this?

Self-Driving car?

No.Way.In.Hell.

For me, driving is one of life's pleasures. Every time I get in and drive off it's another opportunity to get better at something even though I've been at it for nearly 50 years. Driving puts me OUT of touch from the rest of the planet for a few minutes, sometimes a few hours at a time and provides a measure of 'downtime'. What's not to like about that that you'd ever want to give it up?


Norm

[KEEP RT]

Self driving car........huummmmmm. TAKE THE BUS!!!!!!

[rykeith]

No thanks. I like chirping the wheels into second, and I doubt they would program that in, lol.

[SixCyl]

Well the idea is taking root in NV, Google has a fleet of autonomous vehicles and the idea is to just eventually put in a destination and it will go. Cars will communicate between themselves using a sort of extended near field grid. Manual override will be left on as emergency precautions. I essentially imagine I, Robot (the movie not book). We're not there yet but we're not far either. What is halting right now is cost.

On one hand, I know this is best. I am fallible (a machine is too but less so), I tire, I get distracted. A computer doesn't. However, I love driving and can't picture myself just sitting in my car.