Self-Driving Vehicles, Are You For or Against Them? Take the Poll!

Are you for or against self-driving vehicles?

  • Total voters
    42
Maybe it is my age speaking, but I am not sure if I would feel comfortable or safe giving up that control. I just am not sure I would want to put my faith in this aspect of technology.
 

I have some concerns about the transition but it isn't much different today than when the automobile was first introduced.

Farmers’ Anti-Automobile Society of Pennsylvania proposed the following not-so-subtle additions to state law (emphasis added):

1. Automobiles traveling on country roads at night must send up a rocket every mile, then wait ten minutes for the road to clear. The driver may then proceed, with caution, blowing his horn and shooting off Roman candles, as before.

2. If the driver of an automobile sees a team of horses approaching, he is to stop, pulling over to one side of the road, and cover his machine with a blanket or dust cover which is painted or colored to blend into the scenery, and thus render the machine less noticeable.

3. In case a horse is unwilling to pass an automobile on the road, the driver of the car must take the machine apart as rapidly as possible and conceal the parts in the bushes.
​
 

All manufacturers are interested in the self driving so no doubt it's going to happen. I don't want one, don't want to ride in one. They all no doubt will strive for the 'fleet market'. The fleet market, federal government, state governments, large users will use them eventually. I want to be in control, why one of my cars has always been a stick shift.
 
Why not? What is so great about driving a car? You get in your car and tell it where to go. You're not 16 and just got your license. Really, what's the big deal about driving?. I drove a stick, for years, to get better mileage. I never really saved big bucks. And drifter, you may still be driving a stick; but you'll be between two driver-less ones.

BTW, when driver-less cars become the norm, you may be socked with steep insurance rates, if you still drive(?)
 
I hate the idea of being grounded and either have to depend on my family or stay home, so I'm all for driver less cars. I lead a pretty busy life in addition to various doctor and dentist appointments.
 
rkunsaw said:
self driving vehicles cannot look down the road and anticipate problems ahead. They only see the immediate road ahead. I don't believe they can ever be safe on the highways.
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Yeah, I've thought about that. Suppose, for example, a deer runs right past the front of your car. Wonder how the car would react. Slam on the brakes?
 
I am not paranoid; but if the vehicle is self-driving what is to prevent the computer* that controls it deciding today is a good day for the driver to die and you are self-driven off a cliff? I am too much of a control freak.






*and the group of humans who control it
 
ProsperosDaughter said:
I am not paranoid; but if the vehicle is self-driving what is to prevent the computer* that controls it deciding today is a good day for the driver to die and you are self-driven off a cliff? I am too much of a control freak.



*and the group of humans who control it
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You bring up a good point. I wonder if these new autonomous vehicles have a kill switch or a manual override that allows the passengers to stop the vehicle or take control in certain situations.

Driverless-car-cartoon.jpg
 
Smiling Jane said:
Interesting Wired article on why Tesla self-driving vehicles don't recognize a stopped fire truck.

https://www.wired.com/story/tesla-autopilot-why-crash-radar?mbid=nl_012518_daily_shortdek_list1_p2
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Problem is these are civilian passenger cars, not an air traffic control station or fighter jet. Also if a civilian car is equipped with that kind of redundancy what happens when just one part of that system does fail or can't properly distinguish and object, does the car stop, go to manual driving, stallout etc. And these are for objects well above ground. What about speed bumps, sink and pot holes, heaving cracks and/or bumps etc. Will it notice the forked grates at a paid parkling lot entrance/exit so everyone has to stop for a ticket and pay?
 
The person who was driving the Tesla car that hit the fire truck had his car on autopilot. That doesn't mean he shouldn't have been in control of the vehicle. I haven't heard what he was doing that was so important he ran into the back of a fire engine, but I doubt I would be impressed by its ultimate importance.

I haven't heard anything about the autopilot cars' ability to see things embedded in the pavement. Would the cars be able to see the arms on railroad crossings?
 
Driving through any major metropolitan area on the big highways, it appears that the major factors slowing down traffic are ego and stupidity. There are the people tailgating, driving slow in the fast lane, cutting each other off, not allowing clean merges from on ramps, suddenly slamming on the brakes, the guy that suddenly cuts across 3 lanes of traffic to make the same exit he makes every day, etc. etc. When I think about cars that can automatically space a safe distance from the car in front, where a road hazard is communicated from the cars in front before the brakes are applied, it appears that traffic would flow much more smoothly.

Of course, there is a whole lot of work yet to be done before these systems are ready. The early versions aren't anywhere near ready. But in 5 or 10 years, I think there could be a safe functional system - far safer than the jokers on the road now.

Some of the problems yet to be tackled are tricky and involve ethics. It will be interesting to watch.
 
My Suburu has a safety feature that makes it automatically stop if I'm about to run into something, and have not slowed down or stopped despite the warning. I hope I never have to find out if it works, but assuming it
does, isn't that a little bit like a driverless car?
 
Sunny said:
My Suburu has a safety feature that makes it automatically stop if I'm about to run into something, and have not slowed down or stopped despite the warning. I hope I never have to find out if it works, but assuming it
does, isn't that a little bit like a driverless car?
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For me, that would be like two drivers fighting for control of the car.

I would feel safer if I was the only one driving or if the vehicle was totally in control.
 
The only kind of self-driving car I would currently trust is the kind with a Chauffeur. If it ever gets to the point of being reliable and safe, I would love it.
 
I just couldn't trust it because it is operated by a computer and look how many times people have with their computers crashing or causing all kinds of problems. Also, if they updated the software for the car, what about all of the bugs new updates have sometimes. If it would work like someone was in control other than a computer, I would be all for it. But, anytime a computer is in charge of my safety, I say, "Thanks, but no thanks!"
 
AprilSun said:
I just couldn't trust it because it is operated by a computer and look how many times people have with their computers crashing or causing all kinds of problems. Also, if they updated the software for the car, what about all of the bugs new updates have sometimes. If it would work like someone was in control other than a computer, I would be all for it. But, anytime a computer is in charge of my safety, I say, "Thanks, but no thanks!"
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And not only that, but what about hackers? I've read something about that where a hacker could get control of your car's operation.
 

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