Self driving cars may fix our traffic problems:

[Twilight Hue]

Tested in arctic conditions (as all new cars are) i don't see a problem with a bit of snow.

Driverless cars have a hard time in snow, too


Test conditions oftentimes are different than real world conditions. Personally I don't think driverless cars can handle things like Mountain driving in winter, black ice conditions, mud patches, flood conditions where visibility is restricted. Detour and construction navigation and inner city navigation.

Anyone with a GPS can see the driverless technology is a long way off.

 

[Revoltingest]

Is skwimskwim subtle enough
for a double intender?

You'd have to ask him.
If I answered, either he'd be insulted or he'd think I'm seeking his affection.

 

[Trailblazer]

The day of the human driver is limited.

God, I sure hope so.

You have NO IDEA the idiots I have to contend with riding my bike to work in traffic 24 miles a day. Sure, there are some good drivers who are careful and polite, but most people are in a hurry, and could care less about anyone but themselves, and at least 25% run right through red lights like butter. I see more than you see from a car because I am on the road three hours a day watching drivers. I wish cars could be eliminated altogether. Heaven for me is a place without cars and traffic.

I never leave the house on my three day weekends because who wants to go out and take their life in their hands on the road. If I ever retire I would like to live in a very small town or somewhere where there are no cars at all.

 

[Altfish]

There are a couple (at least) of problems with driverless cars...
Insurance issues after an accident - who is at fault
Moral issues - e.g. the car is about to hit two pedestrians but if it swerves it kills the driver - who makes that decision? And if you know that your car will kill the driver, do you ask for it to be reprogrammed to kill the pedestrians?

 

[Trailblazer]

There are a couple (at least) of problems with driverless cars...
Insurance issues after an accident - who is at fault
Moral issues - e.g. the car is about to hit two pedestrians but if it swerves it kills the driver - who makes that decision? And if you know that your car will kill the driver, do you ask for it to be reprogrammed to kill the pedestrians?

Yep, these are problems that involve human free will...
I assume God would prefer to leave that intact...

 

[IsaiahX]

There was one time the colision sensor on the semi i was driving went on alert mode, yet, no vehicle was in front of me, let alone me almost reerending one.

Another time, i was driving, and the foot brake AUDAMATICALLY pressed in, despite no one in front of me, let alone almost hitting anything. When that happened it was a shocking jerk sensation.

Both wer in the same semi.

I dont trust vehicles that drive themselves or even partially via sensors.

Human drivers make mistakes much more often. Technology and automated systems would have improved by that point anyway.

 

[IsaiahX]

There are a couple (at least) of problems with driverless cars...
Insurance issues after an accident - who is at fault
Moral issues - e.g. the car is about to hit two pedestrians but if it swerves it kills the driver - who makes that decision? And if you know that your car will kill the driver, do you ask for it to be reprogrammed to kill the pedestrians?

A human can make all the mistakes that a computer can, including that one. Overall, I would say it would be an improvement. Besides, it would be better for it to kill the driver simply due to a utilitarian perspective. A human would make the selfish choice in that situation, while a car wouldn't.

 

[IsaiahX]

I'd like to see a self-driving car in a snow storm in the middle of winter.

Put a human in that scenario and see if they manage any better. You shouldn't be driving in those conditions anyway, human or computer.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Put a human in that scenario and see if they manage any better. You shouldn't be driving in those conditions anyway, human or computer.

Try a tractor trailer. Sometimes you have to go through until you can't go any more. Storms creep up awful fast. You need the human element there.

 

[IsaiahX]

Yep, these are problems that involve human free will...
I assume God would prefer to leave that intact...

We also have free will when it comes to how we design our machines. Besides, God would want us to make the selfless decision either way. Just program the machine to do just that.

 

[IsaiahX]

Try a tractor trailer. Sometimes you have to go through until you can't go any more. Storms creep up awful fast. You need the human element there.

That is a notable exception, but overall I think self-driving cars are the best choice.

 

[IsaiahX]

Driverless cars have a hard time in snow, too


Test conditions oftentimes are different than real world conditions. Personally I don't think driverless cars can handle things like Mountain driving in winter, black ice conditions, mud patches, flood conditions where visibility is restricted. Detour and construction navigation and inner city navigation.

Anyone with a GPS can see the driverless technology is a long way off.

While the technology isn't perfect, it sure is useful in plenty of situations. Until it advances further, we can stay home or leave the extreme driving to the humans.

 

[Trailblazer]

That is a notable exception, but overall I think self-driving cars are the best choice.

Personally, I think people have a problem with self-driving cars because they want to retain control. This is a psychological issue. They would rather have control than save lives. Sad.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/201...kly_2018-11-16&et_rid=40989465&et_cid=2493410

Even as few as 10% will improve flow. If all cars were self driving it appears that most of our problems would be gone, at least for now.

I may have some control issues about this, but having to commute roughly 2 hours every day, I think I could resolve those issues. Now if we can get the cars to be self-paying as well.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Personally, I think people have a problem with self-driving cars because they want to retain control. This is a psychological issue. They would rather have control than save lives. Sad.

I wouldn't turn it into that kind of argument. That said, there are benefits and drawbacks. Pretty much things almost always end by up solving one set of issues, just to have another set of issues present itself.

 

[Altfish]

A human can make all the mistakes that a computer can, including that one. Overall, I would say it would be an improvement. Besides, it would be better for it to kill the driver simply due to a utilitarian perspective. A human would make the selfish choice in that situation, while a car wouldn't.

But, would you get in the car that had 'kill the driver' programmed in?

 

[ChristineM]

Driverless cars have a hard time in snow, too


Test conditions oftentimes are different than real world conditions. Personally I don't think driverless cars can handle things like Mountain driving in winter, black ice conditions, mud patches, flood conditions where visibility is restricted. Detour and construction navigation and inner city navigation.

Anyone with a GPS can see the driverless technology is a long way off.

Yes different, much worse in the conditions noted to be the worse driving conditions on earth.

So no worse or no better than the average driver then! But with the ability to think "this is too dangerous, im going to slow down or stop until its safe", unlike the average driver.


From California's Mojave Desert to Vermont's White Mountains, there are huge swaths of America that self-driving cars simply aren't ready for.

One way around this is to create systems advanced enough to navigate without these maps. In an important first step, a team from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has developed MapLite, a new framework that allows self-driving cars to drive on roads they've never been on before without 3D maps.​

Self-driving cars for country roads: Most autonomous vehicles require intricate hand-labeled maps, but new system enables navigation with just GPS and sensors

Getting there.

 

[Jollybear]

Human drivers make mistakes much more often. Technology and automated systems would have improved by that point anyway.

I gauss time will tell.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/201...kly_2018-11-16&et_rid=40989465&et_cid=2493410

Even as few as 10% will improve flow. If all cars were self driving it appears that most of our problems would be gone, at least for now.

That assumes trip demand is kept constant, which isn't a reasonable assumption over the long term.

Make it cheaper (in terms of time, money, effort, whatever) to drive and people will drive more.

If a car can drive itself, then trips that previously wouldn't have happened for lack of a driver will now happen. In the past, maybe some parents wanted to drive their kids to school but couldn't because they weren't available; well, with a self-driving car, the car can drive the kid to school and then return home - and repeat this again in the afternoon - all by itself. You now have 4 trips per day that weren't happening before.

Or say someone who lived downtown didn't own a car because they had no available parking. Well, now the person will be able to lease a parking spot somewhere else and drive wherever they please whenever they call the car.

And there will be a break-even point point for parking charges: if the hourly cost to park your car is more than your car's hourly operating cost, it would make more sense to just have it drive around while it waits for you instead of paying to park... and that hourly operating cost is dropping all the time as vehicle technology improves.

Even if there's a rule that says a licensed driver has to be in the car, there's still going to be more trip demand. It's basic economics that, all else being equal, as the cost of something goes down, consumption goes up.

 

[Subduction Zone]

That assumes trip demand is kept constant, which isn't a reasonable assumption over the long term.

Make it cheaper (in terms of time, money, effort, whatever) to drive and people will drive more.

If a car can drive itself, then trips that previously wouldn't have happened for lack of a driver will now happen. In the past, maybe some parents wanted to drive their kids to school but couldn't because they weren't available; well, with a self-driving car, the car can drive the kid to school and then return home - and repeat this again in the afternoon - all by itself. You now have 4 trips per day that weren't happening before.

Or say someone who lived downtown didn't own a car because they had no available parking. Well, now the person will be able to lease a parking spot somewhere else and drive wherever they please whenever they call the car.

And there will be a break-even point point for parking charges: if the hourly cost to park your car is more than your car's hourly operating cost, it would make more sense to just have it drive around while it waits for you instead of paying to park... and that hourly operating cost is dropping all the time as vehicle technology improves.

Even if there's a rule that says a licensed driver has to be in the car, there's still going to be more trip demand. It's basic economics that, all else being equal, as the cost of something goes down, consumption goes up.

It is not the ultimate cure-all. Any system can be overloaded. The article tells us that one of the positive features of the coming self-driving car is that they will be able to put more cars on the existing systems.