Survey - Self Driving Vehicles

Cowpie · August 13, 2016

Think self driving cars are bad... how about a train of commercial semi trucks all operating autonomously! Already a reality. A batch of commercial semi trucks all running down the interstate with only a driver in the seat, but the truck is operating itself. Multiple trucks, communicating with each other's computers, all self driving themselves.

Freightliner autonomous truck....

http://www.freightlinerinspiration.com

Truck pontooning.....

http://fleetowner.com/technology/platooning-trucks-virtual-reality

Daryl Z71 · August 13, 2016

Dad was telling me about this. Wait until something goes wrong and that whole train is involved in a huge accident.

kstruckcountry · August 13, 2016

I don't see how manufacturers can take on the liability... after all, since the software is "theirs" and apparently by extension the vehicle is "theirs" doesn't that mean any incident is "their" fault?

One thing is for sure, if you see a semi trailer with something you want, you'd be able to block the road, wait for it to stop, and grab it from the defenseless, driverless cargo.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

j-ten-ner · August 13, 2016

I'm not a fan of the idea with the self driving cars.
One can say (and is probably right about it) that it's more likely that an accident happens because of a human error, than a computer error.
But then, computer and software are made by humans.

On the other hand, my computer crashed more, than I've crashed my car (once).
Ok, ok 95% of the problems with the computer sit in front of the monitor.

In my case close to 100%.

so long

j-ten-ner

revrnd · October 11, 2016

There will be more instances of people doing things they shouldnt while behind the wheel. Sex and drinking are some examples.

I saw a report on a Canadian TV news channel & they figured distracted driving WILL increase w/ all the driver aids being introduced each year. Blind spot detection, lane wandering alerts, radar cruise control...

The person talking said people won't pay attention to their driving because they figure the car will correct their mistakes.

BigBlueLB756 · October 11, 2016

Make Railroads Great Again!

j-ten-ner · October 12, 2016

Make Railroads Great Again!

hahaha,,,good one

so long

j-ten-ner

StillOffshore · October 12, 2016

Maybe I'm old school, or a bit confused...self driving is neat in theory, but that's about it. I do think the blind spot alerts, lane departure, and the braking to avoid hitting some kid running in the middle of the street are all great AIDES....not replacements for using judgement and your actual EYES. If you want a self driving car so damn bad...why not take the bus??? Cheaper. Less liability. There's trains, and even subways in some towns. I've even heard of this new crazy thing...cabs.

BigBlueLB756 · October 12, 2016

I think one of the reasons this "fad" is growing is that some of the proponents are so dependent on their mothers driving them everywhere.

Grow a pair and learn to drive CORRECTLY!

diyer2 · October 12, 2016

Some info on vehicle deaths. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/overview-of-fatality-facts

No, I'll control my own fate.

No, it cleanses the gene pool.

No, the cost of the infrastructure to do it. We will pay for it. They recently put in the cables for this on a road by me at a cost of 3 Mil. for a few miles. They said it will be cheaper now than the future to do it.

No, the rise in vehicle prices.

No, the rise in maintenance.

RubiconJoey · September 18, 2017

Old post I know but, I'm bored at work. I support self-driving cars. I pretty much hate driving. Racing, off-roading, screwing around doing donuts and that kind of thing I enjoy but, the day to day and long trip driving sucks. It's boring, dangerous (Driving is the most dangerous thing you do on a daily basis. Even if you are a good driver, others may not be) and can be stressful (ever sat in bumper to bumper traffic). I know some of you don't share my distaste for driving but, the benefits of self driving cars are huge.

The most important of these benefits is safety, if every car on the road was self-driving it would be much safer. There wouldn't be any distracted, intoxicated,drowsy, road-raged, half-blind or incompetent drivers. Self driving cars are capable of reacting much faster than any human can. There are videos of Teslas reacting to accidents that a human never even would have had a chance to avoid.

Now I know computers can fail but, that's why there are (or should be) redundancies and fail safes. I also know you can't account for every possible situation but, those instances combined with the failure rate of computers would be exponentially less than human driving errors.

Not only does increased safety mean fewer injuries and deaths, it also means insurance rates go down. The quicker reaction time of computers also mean that speed limits can be increased and that 8 hour trip now only takes 5 hours. With enough data manufacturers can also program your car to drive at an optimal speed for the road and the conditions (pavement surface, weather, tire condition, etc) to give you the right balance between speed and gas mileage.

Going even further if all cars are self-driving and can communicate with one another, there's no need for stopping at red lights. Instead the cars approaching an intersection communicate with one another to synchronize their crossing. In the event mutiple cars would reach the intersection at the same time, one car speeds up or the other slows down but, neither of them have to stop. Now because cars don't have to stop and they aren't wrecking you don't have to sit in traffic (either from congestion or a wreck) anymore. In addition, you're saving gas, battery or whatever energy system is propelling the car.

For hire drivers (truck drivers, mail men, pizza delivery guy, etc) would essentially be out of a job but, that also means our goods delivered by these means become cheaper. They can run 24/7 without breaks (except for refueling and routine maintenance). Tractor trailers no longer need sleeper cabs and all that excess; same with UPS trucks and the like. The cost to insure the vehicle, pay the driver and his benefits, pay for the excess fuel used because the driver is inefficient and cost associated with wrecks are all either eliminated or lessened greatly. The goods also arrive on time because there aren't any accidents slowing them down or drivers getting lost.

Finally one of my favorites is freeing myself from the chore of driving. I would no longer have to worry about other drivers, like the one that pulled out in front of me causing me to slam into them. I don't have to worry about that random critter or large animal like that deer that ran into the side of my yukon. I'm free to actually enjoy the sights around me without having to look back to the road to make sure I haven't drifted into another lane. I can take a nap when I get tired instead of stopping or continuing while drowsy. Hell I can even take that trip at bed time and be at my destination when I wake up.

So yeah, I support self-driving vehicles. I don't see any legitimate downsides. We have and can develop the technology to provide all the benefits I've discussed and I'm sure there's some benefits I'm missing but, I think you get the picture.

j-ten-ner · September 19, 2017

...Racing, off-roading, screwing around doing donuts and that kind of thing I enjoy but, ...

How do you get your 4-wheeler to the mud hole or the race car to the track?

There are many benefits. But for me...I enjoy driving too much, even with all the down-sides.

so long

j-ten-ner

RubiconJoey · September 19, 2017

How do you get your 4-wheeler to the mud hole or the race car to the track?

There are many benefits. But for me...I enjoy driving too much, even with all the down-sides.

so long

j-ten-ner

Same way you always have, with a trailer. There's no reason the technology can't handle a trailer. You might need to give it some information like the weight of the load and size of the trailer but, otherwise it should be fairly simple. Ford is already dabbling with the technology with their trailer back up assist.

j-ten-ner · September 19, 2017

Same way you always have, with a trailer. There's no reason the technology can't handle a trailer. You might need to give it some information like the weight of the load and size of the trailer but, otherwise it should be fairly simple. Ford is already dabbling with the technology with their trailer back up assist.

lol

You're right. My bad.

When I'm thinking about self driving cars, I always have a picture like this in my mind:

http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/2016/02/09/google-self-driving-car-wireless-charging.jpg

so long

j-ten-ner

RubiconJoey · September 19, 2017

lol

You're right. My bad.

When I'm thinking about self driving cars, I always have a picture like this in my mind:

http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/2016/02/09/google-self-driving-car-wireless-charging.jpg

so long

j-ten-ner

lol I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those. I really don't see light trucks and cars changing too drastically from their current form factors. If you forget about the differences required to make a Tesla an all electric car (self driving cars can still be gasoline and diesel powered) its, not much different than a regular car. It has a few more sensors and actuators (steering and brakes) but, otherwise it's just a regular car. The same can be done for out beloved trucks and SUVS.