dseag2

LOL, best post in the whole thread but you left out the MAN BUN!

ABC

Look back 16 years... 2001. No youtube, google was a baby, no smartphones, no facebook, no major car electronic safety systems like we have today... a lot can change in 16 years.

comotiger

We should remember that autonomously driven vehicles can co-exist with human drivers. No one is suggesting that all cars or even 50% of the cars in the US will be fully autonomous, only that they will be fairly prevalent (20-30%?). There will still be 16 year olds learning to drive, but driver education, training and the driving experience itself could be fundamentally different from today's due to the seamless integration of autonomous driving features into every car. Many of today's cars (lacking these driving aids) will still be running in 2033, but would you teach your kids to drive in a 16-20 year-old car? I didn't think so.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

In the short term, sure. It'll take quite a while before self-driving cars trickle down down to all parts of society... But there's no reason sensors and software won't be able to eventually overcome literally any obstacle you can think of with autonomous cars.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

but self-driving motorcycles are coming too.

plex

iTrader: (11)

^^^Wow that's somewhat cool yet disappointing lol.

SW17LS

But we already have cars that basically drive themselves on highways. The question is not do you think having self driving cars is smart, its "will self driving cars exist" and the answer is they basically do already.

This technology is coming, too many people have invested too much into it to just walk away from it. Why do you think Google has had "google cars" driving around for the last 7 years solid perfecting their technology if we're never going to have self driving cars?

This is not science fiction like flying cars...this is 100% in the works, people are investing in and working on this every day right now.

Sulu

Exactly.

Even the lowly Toyota Corolla now comes standard with Toyota Safety Sense P with Auto High Beam, Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control and Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist. That is enough technology to allow the Corolla to drive itself on the highway: it will follow the car in front, right to a stop, and actively keep the car in the lane (by correcting the steering). Yes, the driver has to keep his/her hands on the wheel but that is likely more of a legal CYA thing right now.

You no longer need to drive a Mercedes-Benz or Tesla to have a self-driving car.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Most of you that think self driving cars are feasible, obviously have never been a large city and don't understand how this technology works. In NYC where pedestrians and bicyclers do not obey traffic signals at all, autonomous cars computer will never dim its safe for the car to move because the pedestrians will just keep crossing the road on red light non stop. Bring your self driving car to Times Square after 8am, and you'll be sitting there until 3am until the crowd eases and you get a chance to move. Right now as a driver your have to inch your way onto pedestrians to be able to go through - show a bit of hesitation and there are hordes of people crossing the road in front of you on your green.

Then there will be drivers of regular cars cutting in front of these in situation where traffic is backed up at certain exits or intersections. An autonomous car will never drive aggressively or not let another car cut in, so regular drivers will take advantage of these slowpokes.

Then there are situation when there are no obstacles, but human instinct tells you to slow down. You may see kids playing ball on the sidewalk, a drunk person walking unpredictably, perhaps a loose dog or a cat that might run in front of you.

There are situations where you need to communicate with another driver to let you in front of him when you're stuck in the wrong lane at an intersection and need to make a turn.

Will a self driving car shovel itself out of snow when it gets stuck? What about mechanical failures? What about electronic failures? What happens when an over air updates goes wrong and computer freezes up? What happens when the car loses signal to satellite or several autonomous cars lose signal when communicating with each other?

Will a self driving BMW tailgate and try to run a self driving Prius off the road?

Och

iTrader: (3)

What about worn out roads where lane marking is not even visible anymore? What if there are potholes, black ice, deep water on the road?

Most of these technologies are useless, annoying gimmicks and people just shut them off because all the do is constantly make annoying beeping.

SW17LS

I live in and grew up in Washington, DC. I'm well aware of what driving in cities is like. As I said, self driving cars in city settings will be the last place, but I have 100% confidence it is coming. As I said self driving cars on the highway aren't only coming, they're already here.

I think you are unaware just how far this technology has already come. What's available on cars now it's not even a tip if it.

plex

iTrader: (11)

For some reason the thought of this Technology seems to upset you somehow. Whatever "what if" scenario you have thought of the engineers already have plus hundreds if not thousands more that will be used when setting up algorithms for these cars.

Again your what if scenarios have already been considered. Useless annoying gimmicks? Ha Ha. Sounds like you need to move in the mountains build a cabin away from the "scary" technology.

It doesn't matter what you say his mind is made up it will never happen. Every single fault or issue he won't hesitate to point out.

comotiger

You are looking at the autonomous driving technology "glass" as Half Empty. Many here including me see it as Half Full. There are definitely challenges, but people are well aware of all the issues you have raised and trying to find solutions. Take a look at this link for Waymo, the former Google Car. You may be surprised how far the technology has come.

https://waymo.com

Och

iTrader: (3)

I've listed numerous scenarios that make self driving cars non feasible, and to every scenario the only response I get is "they are working on it". Care to pick apart any of my scenarios, get technical and explain how "intelligent" technology can overcome them?

Och

iTrader: (3)

I live in NYC, one of the most populated cities on earth, and I'm obsessed with technology. I have a degree in computer science and I'm very tech savvy. I'm being sceptic because I have the knowledge of computer programming and understanding of how technology works, unlike those who watch too many sci-fi shows and marketing.

Hmm, I wonder why Google transitioned that hideous monstrosity to a new subsidized daughter company? Maybe so that when one of these things drives itself off a bridge and kills unsuspecting organic Kaleb and his pet pig, the Beardo's parents can't sue Google?


And I have 100% confidence its not happening. Once again, autonomous cars can only work in perfect world and we don't live in one. We can have a bunch of driver assists that make the car almost autonomous, but it will still require the driver to concentrate on the road and take over control when situation requires so.

I'm actually going to go on a limb here and say that some of the technology that we already have on cars may go away soon. There was already a case of a Darwin award winner who chose to ignore all the warnings his self driving Tesla gave him before taking him out of the gene pool. I'm sure the lawyers will have a field day with this case, and depending on the outcome car manufacturers will likely just drop this technology all together to avoid liability.