Driverless Cars..?

[DulwichFox]

What do people think about Driverless Cars. ?

I really find the whole idea frightening..

Driverless Cars negotiating Lordship lane.. Can that work.. ?

DulwichFox

[rendelharris]

I think the actual title could do with changing - "Driverless" sounds random and out of control. They'll still have a driver, it'll just be a computer. Something like "computer guided cars" would sound way more reassuring.

Personally when I see the rage, aggression, selfishness and inattention displayed by a significant minority of car drivers I think they can't come soon enough! Take LL as an example, think how many blockages, near misses etc are caused by people trying to push through, computer guided cars all linked to a network which calculates the optimum way for all vehicles to get through would work far better.

[Jeremy]

Yeah frightening in some ways, but surely inevitable? It is only a matter of time before the technology is safer than a human driver.

[BrandNewGuy]

As with electric cars, the great unanswered question asbout driverless cars is who's going to pay? All that infallible infrastructure, all those new vehicles. You're looking at tens if not hundreds of billions.

Will only driverless vehicles be permitted - in one big switchover? The clever optimisiation of vehicle movements will be impossible if there are pesky humans also on the road, making their own decisions.

And the great philosophical conundrum is that your car might be programmed to kill you. Imagine a scenario where you're driving at speed and a tree crashes into the road just ahead of you. The only way to avoid it is to plough into a bus queue by the side of the road. Will the car 'kill' you or the half a dozen people in the queue? I can see hackers fiddling with the car to allow all kinds of different scenarios.

[????]

the only bit that keeps me sane driving down to Cornwall with the kids in the summer is the driving.....dreading it/them

[rendelharris]

BrandNewGuy Wrote:

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> Will only driverless vehicles be permitted - in

> one big switchover? The clever optimisiation of

> vehicle movements will be impossible if there are

> pesky humans also on the road, making their own

> decisions.

That's going to be the big problem, as I understand it what's being trialled at present are autonomous vehicles, so they make their decisions based on what they sense around them. To have full optimisation using central control then yes, human controlled cars would have to go. It'll happen in a few generations I think - 50-75 years maybe - when people have become so used to driverless cars that driving them yourself will seem as big an anachronism as having a chap with a red flag in front.

The big advantages from a personal point of view would be that a) they'd presumably be programmed to give cyclists "as much room as when overtaking a car" (that's what it says in the Highway Code!) and b) one could whistle up one's driverless car after a night on the ale and get home safely.

[Jeremy]

Yeah I don't think there's a need for new infrastructure, the cars will be self-guiding based on image recognition and motion detection.

You won't need to ban manually driven vehicles, but there may be financial incentives/penalties... e.g. vehicle tax, "congestion charges", insurance premiums, etc.. market forces would ensure that eventually almost all new cars have a self-driving facility.

I can certainly imagine a situation where one's insurance might be voided if you're in an accident and it transpires that you've turned off the autopilot.

Bit of a shame in some ways, as I do enjoy driving (outside of London at least), but the safety advantages will eventually be undeniable.

Traffic optimisation is a separate topic really. But with self-driving cars relaying their progress back to a server (similar to how Waze works already), efficient routing would seem very feasible, even with a mixture of self-driving and manually-driven cars on the road.

[steveo]

I can imagine a scheme where you have to drive it manually onto the motorway and then the computer kicks in, a little like cruise control

[Seabag]

Can you take a nap whilst 'not actually driving' the car.

[rendelharris]

Seabag Wrote:

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> Can you take a nap whilst 'not actually driving'

> the car.

Not at the moment, nor sadly are you allowed to have a few pints - at present where they've been introduced a licensed and competent driver must be there at all times to override the computer if necessary. But one would imagine, given the exponential growth in technologies, that ultimately it will reach a point where the human driver is totally redundant.

[Jeremy]

When they (eventually) get to the stage that they're driving unsupervised, we'll have millions of automated Uber-bots zipping around... private car ownership in cities will plummet.

[malumbu]

Calm down calm down.

"I'm not going to go in a driverless car"

Well you wont have to.

Cars and navigation systems will get more advanced. Things will communicate with other things through the .... Internet of Things.

My only prediction is that techology will serve us in ways yet predicted.

Private car ownership will in deed, fall. And the sharing economy will rise - but again unpredicatably. Who could have seen AirBnB's fall from grace?

It will be exciting.

(PS like it or not Uber are progressive, but don't whisper that to any cabbies)

[Seabag]

???? Wrote:

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> the only bit that keeps me sane driving down to

> Cornwall with the kids in the summer is the

> driving.....dreading it/them

I'm going to put mine in the driverless car and follow on my driverless motorbike

And is it me, or does Cornland get further away each time you drive there

[BrandNewGuy]

malumbu Wrote:

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> Cars and navigation systems will get more

> advanced. Things will communicate with other

> things through the .... Internet of Things.

This is no less a faith-based prediction than those that suggest that Jesus Christ will return in glory or that we'll all have jetpacks by 2000. I'm not buying that anyone's going to be able to afford all this. It's a hell of a lot more than a camera, some sensors and GPS.

[Lowlander]

DulwichFox Wrote:

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> What do people think about Driverless Cars. ?

>

> I really find the whole idea frightening..

> Driverless Cars negotiating Lordship lane.. Can

> that work.. ?

>

> DulwichFox

Why is it frightening? Driverless cars already have an almost perfect safety record - per km or mile travelled, they are far safer than a human driver.

They won't be widespread for decades. Their introduction will be gradual as the tech improves, they will be costly; personally, as someone who buys 10 year old cars and drives them for another 10, I doubt I'll ever own one.

This resistance to new technology!

[DulwichFox]

Taking this all to extremes..

I mostly use my car to do my weekly shop..

Perhaps I could get myself a driverless car... GPS.. and programme in the co-ordinates of Tescos Surrey Quays.

Send the car off to collect my Pre-ordered goods. Sit back with a nice cold beer and await the return of my order.

The car would self park outside my home in its reserved space.. and text me to let me know it has arrived.

DulwichFox

[Jeremy]

Fox, are you suggesting that one day, we might be able to do our weekly food shopping without leaving the home?

[rendelharris]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> Fox, are you suggesting that one day, we might be

> able to do our weekly food shopping without

> leaving the home?

Tcha, that be foolish talk be that.

[Jeremy]

But on a less sarcastic note, fully automated grocery deliveries are inevitable.

Prototypes are already on the streets of SE London: https://www.starship.xyz ... although not sure I fancy it's chances against two kids and a claw hammer.

[DulwichFox]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> Fox, are you suggesting that one day, we might be

> able to do our weekly food shopping without

> leaving the home?

As an example .. Take a manned mission to Mars.. Do we really need to risk Human life when we can send robots and the like to do the same work..

Likewise sending ones own driverless car to do the shopping seems to make perfect sense. I will be safely tucked up at home.

On a serious note.. I believe there are services that actually send out Pizzas (stash ?)in small electric 'carts'

Guided to your door by GPS.

Foxy

[jaywalker]

The question is whether there will be enough residual moments where judgement is required rather than rule. Driving is heavily rule-based; but not entirely so. To make it entirely rule-based would probably require banning humans - certainly to optimise it. I'd be all in favour: there is a simple statistic about road deaths to make the comparison.

One advantage is that entirely computer-driven cars will be able to go MUCH faster in non-residential areas, perhaps the speed limit could be raised to 120 or so. And my cat will be a great deal safer in east Dulwich!

The general effect will be MUCH reduced congestion, no parking problems etc (cars can go off and park themselves somewhere out of the way even when owned).

The other advantage is that one will no longer own a car unless one wants to make the statement (I really don't). So I can sell my car and start renting (as with so much else, property is looking outdated). I can treat myself to a ride in some bling one day, or in a utility vehicle the next.

This mirrors other situations: underground trains, planes, medical advice.

I'm really looking forward to not having to worry about driving.

[Grok]

God send for women?

DulwichFox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> What do people think about Driverless Cars. ?

>

> I really find the whole idea frightening..

> Driverless Cars negotiating Lordship lane.. Can

> that work.. ?

>

> DulwichFox

[malumbu]

I had the pleasure of driving a number of new (hire) cars on a recent event. The chap from Enterprise dropped my vehicle off and told me a little out its workings. Does it have stop/start I said all excitedly? Yes but you turn it off by pressing that button. Why would anyone turn somethign off that saved 10% fuel I questioned him.

So we get a briefing about why we are driving the cars and that we need to know how to open the bonnet, boot/tailgate, petrol cap etc.

Good thing there are no women here today said the chap organising the event.

During the day he also made comments about the French and gay men.

I kicked myself when I got home for not actually saying anythign at the time (my God you moron, what age are you from) and did actually report him for his xenophobia and casual homophobia and sexism. He's been told to be more careful in the use of his language as we are no longer in the 1980s. Clearly this must have been you Grok.

Now others I may say they were just being ironic.

[malumbu]

Watched Prof Phil Blythe (Newcastle Uni and Dept for Transport Chief Scientific Advisor) talk about future transport networks last Tuesday at the Turing Institute/British Library on a live stream. Sadly they don't seem to show this on Youtube post event but I'll see if I can get hold of it.

[uncleglen]

Everyone should read E.M. Forster's short story 'The Machine Stops' and I was pondering this...

The hippocampus in the brain is concerned with spatial awareness and consolidating short term memories into long term ones- linking them to emotions. If we stop using it for spatial problems (already the use of satnavs is making it redundant for finding our way) will it shrink, or fail to develop fully? Scary thought.....Shanks' Pony is looking very attractive....

As for Cornwall- it is driving across from here to the outskirts of London that is getting worse by the day. I went there and started out from Maidenhead and it makes an enormous difference.