Conversation 9 comments by 6 users
  • lustig
    +16

    Another rear end collision where the Google car was not at fault. They've been involved in 14 collisions since 2009 I think, and none of them have been the fault of the Google car. And this technology is still kind of in its infancy! And still, so many people don't want self-driving cars because of course they can drive better, and they won't make mistakes. If every car on the road was a self driving Google car, maybe those 14 collisions since 2009 wouldn't even have happened!

    • laebshade
      +1

      I want self-driving cars, but I don't want them replacing all cars. There's a certain level of romance in being behind the wheel of a car and in control. I could never give that up.

      • spaceghoti
        +4

        What if we started segregating lanes for self-driving cars versus manually driven cars?

        • xg549
          +4

          Segregation has not worked well in the past, are you trying to start another civil war? :^)

          • spaceghoti
            +4

            Playing the race card, eh? All you see are shades of black and white? Well the joke's on you, my car is green!

            (do I need a joke tag here?)

        • lustig
          +3

          I think it would be a huge effort to set all of the roads up like that, and, with time, manually driven cars will most likely become less common and perhaps disappear completely. When that happens, it would be a huge effort to change the roads again. I feel like the best way forward is to integrate them gradually, and as new roads are built or old ones are overhauled, maybe include features that accommodate driverless cars better.

          The world health organization claims that approximately 1.24 million road traffic related deaths occur every year, with between 20 to 50 million more people suffering non-fatal injuries!!! A lot of these are people in poorer countries, so self driving cars won't fix everything overnight, but self driving cars aren't susceptible to intoxication, fatigue, emotions (road rage etc.), speeding, distractions, texting while driving etc. They should theoretically be able to see and monitor the position of every car/bike/pedestrian in their 360 degree field of view at all times. They should be able to perform much more complex calculations than humans too! And, when all cars on the road are self driving cars, they should be able to communicate with each other which will further increase safety. The fact that self driving cars can and will be safer is pretty much indisputable.

        • ClassyCritic
          +3

          I actually really like this idea. I'd be in favor of manual cars, with much more advanced autopilot features to help prevent accidents.

      • lustig
        +2

        I can see where you're coming from, but there's also a much larger degree of risk involved in being behind the wheel of a car and in control. As I said in another comment "The world health organization claims that approximately 1.24 million road traffic related deaths occur every year, with between 20 to 50 million more people suffering non-fatal injuries". And it's not like, in being behind the wheel and in control of the car, you're the only one who's at a higher risk. It puts other road users in more danger too. Is it fair to have more people die or become injured so that some people can enjoy the romance of being behind the wheel of a car? I think one fairer solution is to have tracks or designated zones for manual driving. Like take a nice stretch of road along the coast and put it aside for manual use, for example; let people drive manually and enjoy the scenery and the feeling of being in control of their car. That way, everyone who uses that dedicated zone has accepted the risks and some poor sod who wants to be as safe as possible in their self driving car doesn't get wiped out by user error in the name of preserving the romance of manual driving.

      • jmcs
        +1

        You could always drive in closed loops, this accident is one more proof that letting humans drive is dangerous and will hurt and kill people.