Driverless Cars


 
Len Dennis

Len Dennis

TVWBB Diamond Member
Here in Ontario (AKA "The Nanny State"), they're starting to talk about rules and reg's for upcoming driverless cars.

http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/topstories/ontario-announcement-automated-cars-1.3268181

On the one hand, they seem like a good alternative to regular cars and for people who don't like driving on the highway. Sometimes, I think it would be kinda nice to get in and just sit back and let the car do the driving. It might be relaxing.

OTOH, what happens when you get stuck behind another car (driver or not) who insists on toodling along below the speed limit. Does your driverless car signal and change lanes and get past the turtle? Or does it just slow down to match the speed of the car in front? I know that it can be overridden by the driver but still....

I guess related (but separate) are insurance companies who give you a discount if you have one of their tracking devices installed to monitor your habits/speed/etc and maybe give you a discount? Somehow, I think at the end of the term, if you have a lead foot (guilty as charged :mad:), my rates WILL go higher than normal than if I didn't have this gizmo (I don't and never will). I'm pessimistic enough to think that if you have it, you're going to get a nice raise in the near future.

Food for thought.
 
Driverless cars are the future, no doubt. The technology will be widely available within 10 or even 5 years. Of course people are luddites and there will be significant resistance to total adoption of the technology. And that's too bad because humans are way more unpredictable than computers, and can't communicate with other vehicles as efficiently as teh computers can. If the fleet of millions of cars on the roads was entirely driverless it would be insanely efficient. Maybe some day.
 
I'm still very much old school in that I enjoy driving. It's fun. That's why my go-to ride is

images


I don't do it to save gas. I do it cuz it's fun. If I wanted to save gas (or be greener), I'd use my wife's Civic.

A very, very distant second reason for driving is to get from point A to point B.

The only time I absolutely hate driving is if I have to drive in rush hour traffic. And in some places, it's rush hour 24 hours a day. So I stay home ;) . Maybe rush hour is the time for a driverless car. Endless tedium getting from A to B. Not fun :(

Arizona has it right. 85MPH . And get caught at 95?--> $15 fine.

http://tucson.com/news/local/govt-a...cle_2361ed60-e285-5546-bcb7-a10d17d255a6.html
 
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You can count me in the lead foot crowd, but I'm mellowing (much of the time) as I age.

I've had a couple of these - got the first one around 2006:
valentine-one-radar-detector.jpg


Instead of getting irritated I try to imagine that I caught a red light back in the last group--that chills me out a bit....usually.

I wonder what the rules will be.......I assume they'll have to be manned by a capable driver.......maintenance must be much stricter..and then the privacy issues. We've pretty much given up our privacy already with our smart phones.
 
I've had high performance cars most of my life from a Shelby GT350, Road Runner (that was our family car when we first had kids) a couple of corvettes (Don't think I could get in or out of one today) and others. But I always drove respectfully out on the road and had my fun at sanctioned drag strips. Last ticket I got was 50 years ago.
Today as I'm getting older the thought of driverless car has some appeal to me as I don't enjoy driving as much as I used to and of course as much as I hate to say it the reflex's are slowing down a little.
Some of the concerns I have are liability issues, if you get in an accident because of some mechanical glitch or someone hijacking your cars computer and of course big brother. How long will it be before the government says how many miles you can drive a week, month, year and if you exceed that what happens, taxes, disable your car or tax you for every mile you drive regardless to how many you do drive.
A lot more information is got to be forth coming before I'll buy into it.
 
As a truck driver by trade, I've long said that I'd enjoy my job a whole bunch better if it weren't for traffic and customers. :p
 
If you look at the picture under my name you can probably guess my thoughts on driverless cars.

Hey, if two driverless cars get into an accident, which manufacturer will be liable for all damages and injury?
 
Bob H. said:
Hey, if two driverless cars get into an accident, which manufacturer will be liable for all damages and injury?
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Depending on where you live (like here), we have no-fault insurance. Each driver's co. covers their driver. It's up to the ins co to go after the other ins co to try to recover (depending on how/if charges are laid).
 
I don't think the driverless cars could be any worse than the way people already drive around here! Heck,it'd probably be a HUGE improvement!
 
Phil Perrin said:
I don't think the driverless cars could be any worse than the way people already drive around here! Heck,it'd probably be a HUGE improvement!
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You may very well be right Phil. I know there are stretches of highway around here that slow down (from 60 to literally stop n sometimes go) for no reason: no accidents, no cops on the side, no construction, nothing. It's a mystery. Maybe with driverless, traffic will proceed NO RUBBERNECKING ALLOWED.
 
Len, I thought that stupid stuff only happened here in NC. As a truck driver, it's a daily thing that makes me use language that's not suitable for this forum!
 
I drive 100 miles round trip daily and the morning commute taint bad going into the city ( usually 45 mins) cause traffic is light at 4.30. But going home can average 1.5 to 2 hrs getting out of the city on the Ike at 3.30.
I always thought if cars were maintained by GPS to go at a certain speed to maintain a constant traffic flow than I would be all for it.
I'd rather travel at 25-30 mph (as long as I'm moving), than speeding up for short distances then slamming on the brakes.
You have to be a defensive / offensive driver these days.

Tim
 
It's 6.3 miles from my driveway to where I park my delivery truck. At 6:15 AM, it takes me 10 minutes, even IF I catch all the stop lights. If I come home AFTER 6PM, it takes about 15 minutes. 4:30-6 PM, try 20-30. Talk about aggravating! :mad:
 
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