Would you feel safe in a driverless car?

[Vinylic.]

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidth...-a-driverless-car-calif-gov-jerry-brown-does/

We’re still a little bit ahead of this technology hitting the mainstream, but California is getting out ahead of the legal curve. On Tuesday, Governor Jerry Brown took a trip to Google headquarters to sign a bill into law making driverless cars legal in the Golden State.

The New York Times points out that driverless cars aren’t technically illegal – one supposes that it didn’t occur to earlier lawmakers to note that cars had to have drivers – it’s Google that’s lobbying to make the cars explicitly legal. So far, California joins Nevada and Florida in its support of self-driving vehicles – California’s outsize population and influence make this a big win for Google.

“Today we are looking at science fiction become tomorrow’s reality,” Gov. Brown said, according to Bloomberg. “Anybody who first gets in the car and finds the car is driving will be a little skittish. But they’ll get over it.”

Driverless car advocates imagine a utopian world of perfect commutes – fewer traffic accidents, better fuel economy, better traffic flow, access to transportation for the blind, elderly or drunk, and more. And it would allow Google to not only know what you’re thinking every second you use the computer, but also everywhere you go as well. For the company that makes its money building digital constructs of its consumers, that’s a win.

I recently traded in my aging car for a shiny new one, and I experimented with using cruise control for the first time. It’s jarring, for a second, and then you adjust. Is that what the experience of a driverless car would be like? Every driver on earth has become accustomed to a certain degree of control over their vehicles, and I wonder how long it would take people to feel comfortable giving that up. Many people don’t even like automatic transmissions.

According to CNN, when someone asked Sergey Brin who would get a ticket if a driverless car ran a red light, Brin simply replied that driverless cars do not run red lights. Hubris, anyone?

We're probably getting one step further into the future as of yet.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

I'm going to point the finger at this Gov. Brown during the car uprising, when they finally have the intelligence to realize we need them more than they need us. It's going to happen and the state of California is at fault.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Honestly I wouldn't feel safe being in a driverless car.

 

[Luigitoilet]

I feel would car safe not driver beingless in.

 

[Claire Diviner]

So as long as the cars aren't given the ability of self-awareness, I'll be fine. Goodness knows I wouldn't want one until I feel comfortable enough in knowing they've mastered or near mastered the technology.

 

[M@v]

At this point, no. Wouldn't trust a new technology with my life. In addition, I would probably never trust something like that over my own ability; I take a lot of pride in my driving ability.

 

[#HBC | Dark Horse]

I'm actually kind of interested how this would turn out, considering the benefits.

Think about how harmless drunk driving would be with a driverless car.

 

[Mic_128]

I'd get one. Through all the tests they've done, the only crashes they've been involved with were other people going through lights.

Plus think about it. An hour drive to work? Take a nap in the car. Read a book. Ect.

 

[Holder of the Heel]

This would be a dream come true for me, a way for me to escape my fear of driving entirely without the inconvenience of such a reluctance.

 

[victra♥]

Plus think about it. An hour drive to work? Take a nap in the car. Read a book. Ect.

It would be like taking the public transit, but more direct and of course privatized.

I love driving, but yeah on those early morning/long drives, something like a driverless car is godsent.

 

[Vinylic.]

Imagine nascar.

It'd be pretty nice to own a hands-free car. There's already an auto-park function for certain vehicles today, so what harm or dangers are there for driverless cars? Malfunction is one, but that would pretty much be taken care of after countless test runs.


Car accident? Blame on the other driver who caused it; If a driverless car drives good enough to not break laws, there would be no trouble for the owner.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Machines are becoming so efficient, why do we need people?

 

[Vinylic.]

Without people, new technology would not exist. Creativity and knowledge is the key; Machines have a long way to go to obtain them.

 

[Luigitoilet]

Machines are becoming so efficient, why do we need people?

Why did we ever "need" people? What is need, who/what is the needy and what necessitates the need? In other words, machines are more efficient to do what exactly, beyond make human life more convenient?

 

[Teran]

Only when all cars are driverless.

 

[Frostwraith]

without top-notch technology, no, I wouldn't feel safe at all. who knows there might be a bug or a malfunction the machine and causes an accident potentially killing you? It's kind of scary, at least for me.

 

[GoldShadow]

I love driving. Driving is one of life's great pleasures for me, and I'd never want to give it up.

Not to mention that there are always risks with regard to crime. It would only be a matter of time before someone modified, hacked, or cracked driverless systems.

 

[Teran]

Hack the car to do a trip to the hardware store and back so there's an alibi for murdering your wife.

Personally I agree that being involved with your car is the best feeling, which is why I really hate automatic transmission, but now I'm no longer in the physical condition to drive, and possibly won't be for the rest of my life, so a driverless car would be great because public transport/taxis/chauffeurs aren't always a viable option.

 

[Lore]

without top-notch technology, no, I wouldn't feel safe at all. who knows there might be a bug or a malfunction the machine and causes an accident potentially killing you? It's kind of scary, at least for me.

What if there's a bug in the driver of a normal car? Normal cars are pretty risky too.

Anyway, I wouldn't mind having driverless cars if they're safe or safer than human drivers, but I do agree that driving can be great.

 

[theeboredone]

You know, I feel like when these cars do come around, there are gonna be so many contract stipulations to go through so you can't sue Google + Car Company in case something does go wrong with the system.

It's scary to think of myself in a car like this, but it would rock if I didn't get much sleep the night before and could catch up on it during the ride to work.

 

[GoldShadow]

Of course, I think it would be more dangerous to just put people in driverless cars and expect them to be totally safe. What we need is driver education. It is mindboggling that practically anybody can get a license (at least in the US) to operate a piece of machinery that can kill other people (or themselves), regardless of whether they know how to drive.

And I mean really know how to drive.

I feel safe when I drive because I understand the concepts and physics of things like following distance, visibility around turns, traction/centripetal force/turn radius. I'm certainly not an expert, but I know what to do if a car goes into a spin or encounters a patch of ice. I've forced myself to become extremely circumspect and aware of my surroundings when driving, and to drive defensively, and to react quickly. I know where all the buttons on the dashboard are in my car so I don't have to look down to operate the AC, radio, etc. I feel totally comfortable driving in heavy snow, pouring rain, and fog (unless there are other people on the road, because I don't trust other drivers).

The point I'm trying to make is, it's ludicrous that the only thing a person has to do before getting behind a wheel is take a few hours of classroom instruction and a few measly hours of driving and take a test.

So how is any of this relevant to driverless vehicles? Well, no technology is perfect, and from time to time there'll be errors in driverless systems. But unless driver training/education are strictly enforced, people will get lazy and their driving skills will become extremely rusty since, hey, they don't have to drive. And if there is a problem with their driverless car and suddenly they have to take control, they will probably panic instead of reacting properly or correctly.

After all, airplanes have autopilot, but that doesn't mean you'd put someone without proper training and ability in the pilot's seat, right?

 

[Teran]

I don't think the issue is that people with licences don't know how to drive, they most often do. The real problem is that they don't actually care how they should be driving because they're far too selfish.

Pretty much every single problem on the road comes from selfish driving, outside of DUIs and even that is like the ultimate selfish act.

 

[Holder of the Heel]

I guess they'll still demand that you have a license in case the vehicle does malfunction so you can manually move the vehicle to where you need to go and/or prevent an accident from said malfunction.

 

[Vesant]

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidth...-a-driverless-car-calif-gov-jerry-brown-does/



We're probably getting one step further into the future as of yet clicking here.

I drive slowly and follow rules so I feel bit safe.

 

[Jon Farron]

That would be... creepy? I mean you're sitting ina driver seat and it's driving for you and stopping at red lights. Who knows if they'll be able to make it take you places you don't want to go, on their command.

Maybe if you could step in at any time and take control yeah, but getting in and it driving you to work... um no, I wouldn't feel safe, lol.

 

[Claire Diviner]

Let us hope the cars aren't guided by GPS systems either; I have - on several occasions - seen a GPS tell my friends to take a left/right turn off a bridge.

 

[Vinylic.]

What GPS devices were they using, lol?

 

[KRDsonic]

I've seen that too when I was riding in the car with someone on the way to a tourny in another city. It occasionally would basically tell him to take a turn off of the freeway... which was up in the air...

 

[Teran]

That would be... creepy? I mean you're sitting ina driver seat and it's driving for you and stopping at red lights. Who knows if they'll be able to make it take you places you don't want to go, on their command.

Maybe if you could step in at any time and take control yeah, but getting in and it driving you to work... um no, I wouldn't feel safe, lol.

Dude it would be a simple automated system not Skynet.