Driverless Cars/Trucks (1 Viewer)

[TripItUp]

"IF I CAN CHANGE USE CAN CHANGE" - ROCKY

Seriously. Do I see a great benefit of this? Absolutely.

Do I see this effectively being adopted soon everywhere? Nope

There are too many inconveniences to us selfish Americans. I'm all in on a driverless car commuter though

It will certainly be driven initially by businesses particularly transportation sector stuff like long haul. Remove thousands of dollars of cost yearly eliminating the driver.

I agree here.

Much like the internet.

It began as a way for business to have another marketing outlet and ways to exchange info.

The second that regular people saw how it could have value in their day to day lives the internet popped up in every household.

Now my refrigerator has a way to connect to the internet,

Yep, this will be economically driven.

People are so scared ####less of the government, I don't get it.

 

[UniAlias]

Do I see this effectively being adopted soon everywhere? Nope

I wouldn't be surprised if Uber had an autonomous car option rolled out within 5 years.

 

[NCCommish]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

The average American is spending slightly under 10k a year to own a car. So 200 amonth to use any car you want in the fleet is a nice savings. Even 300 would be and both those price points would be below the cheapest cars to own. Making a car financially available to far more people.

 

[roadkill1292]

"IF I CAN CHANGE USE CAN CHANGE" - ROCKY

Seriously. Do I see a great benefit of this? Absolutely.

Do I see this effectively being adopted soon everywhere? Nope

There are too many inconveniences to us selfish Americans. I'm all in on a driverless car commuter though

It will certainly be driven initially by businesses particularly transportation sector stuff like long haul. Remove thousands of dollars of cost yearly eliminating the driver.

And work around the clock.

 

[belljr]

"IF I CAN CHANGE USE CAN CHANGE" - ROCKY

Seriously. Do I see a great benefit of this? Absolutely.

Do I see this effectively being adopted soon everywhere? Nope

There are too many inconveniences to us selfish Americans. I'm all in on a driverless car commuter though

It will certainly be driven initially by businesses particularly transportation sector stuff like long haul. Remove thousands of dollars of cost yearly eliminating the driver.

I hope the computer knows how to back up a big rig. I could see that being hilariously awful

The first trials will be a good blopper reel. But with proper sensor placement and programming it will be able to put a trailer into a very tight space.

oh I get it. If my dated software can be updated to better detect potential air collisions, this is easily doable

 

[NCCommish]

"IF I CAN CHANGE USE CAN CHANGE" - ROCKY

Seriously. Do I see a great benefit of this? Absolutely.

Do I see this effectively being adopted soon everywhere? Nope

There are too many inconveniences to us selfish Americans. I'm all in on a driverless car commuter though

It will certainly be driven initially by businesses particularly transportation sector stuff like long haul. Remove thousands of dollars of cost yearly eliminating the driver.

And work around the clock.

Only stop to fuel/charge.

 

[(HULK)]

Surprised at no mention of the benefits of a robotic designated driver yet.

That would be one of the main benefits but will never happen. As long as there is a manual mode it will be illegal to be in a car drunk.

I don't think our society is that stupid.

 

[belljr]

"IF I CAN CHANGE USE CAN CHANGE" - ROCKY

Seriously. Do I see a great benefit of this? Absolutely.

Do I see this effectively being adopted soon everywhere? Nope

There are too many inconveniences to us selfish Americans. I'm all in on a driverless car commuter though

It will certainly be driven initially by businesses particularly transportation sector stuff like long haul. Remove thousands of dollars of cost yearly eliminating the driver.

I agree here.

Much like the internet.

It began as a way for business to have another marketing outlet and ways to exchange info.

The second that regular people saw how it could have value in their day to day lives the internet popped up in every household.

Now my refrigerator has a way to connect to the internet,

right but in the same vein I have not felt the need to pay to ,have a smart TV or a refrigerator connect to the Internet to me it just seems like an extra waste of money

 

[Quez]

Road rage will go way down. We won't have nearly as many idiots getting out of their cars and punching people in the face for minor fender benders

 

[NCCommish]

"IF I CAN CHANGE USE CAN CHANGE" - ROCKY

Seriously. Do I see a great benefit of this? Absolutely.

Do I see this effectively being adopted soon everywhere? Nope

There are too many inconveniences to us selfish Americans. I'm all in on a driverless car commuter though

It will certainly be driven initially by businesses particularly transportation sector stuff like long haul. Remove thousands of dollars of cost yearly eliminating the driver.

I agree here.

Much like the internet.

It began as a way for business to have another marketing outlet and ways to exchange info.

The second that regular people saw how it could have value in their day to day lives the internet popped up in every household.

Now my refrigerator has a way to connect to the internet,

right but in the same vein I have not felt the need to pay to ,have a smart TV or a refrigerator connect to the Internet to me it just seems like an extra waste of money

By the time your kids are buying appliances they will connect automatically and no one will even think about it as it will be just the way things are.

 

[NutterButter]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

The average American is spending slightly under 10k a year to own a car. So 200 amonth to use any car you want in the fleet is a nice savings. Even 300 would be and both those price points would be below the cheapest cars to own. Making a car financially available to far more people.

Seems low. Cost per mile is 59 cents. That would be just for them to break even. Average american drives 13k miles per year. So the cost for them in gas, wear and tear and insurance would be roughly 650 for month. Now throw in profit which companies like to make.

 

[NCCommish]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

The average American is spending slightly under 10k a year to own a car. So 200 amonth to use any car you want in the fleet is a nice savings. Even 300 would be and both those price points would be below the cheapest cars to own. Making a car financially available to far more people.

Seems low. Cost per mile is 59 cents. That would be just for them to break even. Average american drives 13k miles per year. So the cost for them in gas, wear and tear and insurance would be roughly 650 for month. Now throw in profit which companies like to make.

The cars are in near constant use and 1000's of people are paying for the privilege. All about economies of scale.

 

[comfortably numb]

Holy ####. Mapquest had a "scenic" route option years ago. I don't understand all the "go the same way every time" comments. You will be able to tell the car to take the scenic route or via Road X or Highway Z. This is not a difficult hurdle to overcome.

What microscopic percentage of rides are we even talking about here?

Small percentage, but I'm in the camp of those that like to just take road trips for the fun of it. Just to see what I can see. I don't think that will be eliminated. Daily commute? Just get me there as quickly as possible.

What about driverless motorcycles?

http://www.brooksmotorworks.com/images/sidecars/R90S-BMW-motorcycle-conversion-with-Steib-TR500.jpg

 

[NutterButter]

Holy ####. Mapquest had a "scenic" route option years ago. I don't understand all the "go the same way every time" comments. You will be able to tell the car to take the scenic route or via Road X or Highway Z. This is not a difficult hurdle to overcome.

What microscopic percentage of rides are we even talking about here?

Small percentage, but I'm in the camp of those that like to just take road trips for the fun of it. Just to see what I can see. I don't think that will be eliminated. Daily commute? Just get me there as quickly as possible.

What about driverless motorcycles?

I could easily see some user experience where you have a map on you large console and you're just clicking points that you want to include in your route. That's what I do when I want to map bike routes on my computer. The experience will be a heck of a lot nicer for the driver when he can actually take in the scenery instead of worrying about driving.

 

[Foosball God]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

The average American is spending slightly under 10k a year to own a car. So 200 amonth to use any car you want in the fleet is a nice savings. Even 300 would be and both those price points would be below the cheapest cars to own. Making a car financially available to far more people.

There are economics of scale, but there is also the amount of vehicles that would be necessary for the fleet. I can see where it could be made cheaper, but there would also be more waiting. For some that inconvenience will be worth it, for some it won't I think.

There are a lot of ways this could go, which I think will delay things even more, and they haven't even perfected the technology yet. The first car was developed in 2005, it's now 2015. It will start to go faster, but I think they are farther away from mainstream than some of you obviously do.

 

[UniAlias]

Delivery services would be heavily impacted. Amazon already experimenting with 1 hour local deliveries. Using electric driverless cars they could feasibly deliver products immediately at such a tiny cost. Probably a bit more realistic than the drone delivery service that made the news last year.

 

[belljr]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

The average American is spending slightly under 10k a year to own a car. So 200 amonth to use any car you want in the fleet is a nice savings. Even 300 would be and both those price points would be below the cheapest cars to own. Making a car financially available to far more people.

just to argue the other side....where would people that keep vehicles long periods fall in this equation?

say 9 to 12 years

 

[NutterButter]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

The average American is spending slightly under 10k a year to own a car. So 200 amonth to use any car you want in the fleet is a nice savings. Even 300 would be and both those price points would be below the cheapest cars to own. Making a car financially available to far more people.

Seems low. Cost per mile is 59 cents. That would be just for them to break even. Average american drives 13k miles per year. So the cost for them in gas, wear and tear and insurance would be roughly 650 for month. Now throw in profit which companies like to make.

The cars are in near constant use and 1000's of people are paying for the privilege. All about economies of scale.

This is what I don't agree with. You're going to have huge surges in demand like we do now with roads and the rest of the time, you'll need just a small fraction of the cars. They're going to have to find a place to store an enormous amount of cars. The privilege is nice, but it needs to be convenient. If there's not a huge price savings, I'd rather just own my own and not have to wait for a car like I'm waiting for mass transit.

And the 59 cents per mile is mostly the cost of driving that mile from the cost of gas to the wear and tear on the car. Economies of scale aren't going to change that. In fact, b/c these will be just driving around a lot more waiting for the next drive need, they'll be putting even more miles on when no one is in the car leading which will also have to be past on down to drivers.

 

[E-Z Glider]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

If its proven to be a safer way to travel, why should you be allowed to endanger others? Seems pretty selfish.

 

[NCCommish]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

The average American is spending slightly under 10k a year to own a car. So 200 amonth to use any car you want in the fleet is a nice savings. Even 300 would be and both those price points would be below the cheapest cars to own. Making a car financially available to far more people.

There are economics of scale, but there is also the amount of vehicles that would be necessary for the fleet. I can see where it could be made cheaper, but there would also be more waiting. For some that inconvenience will be worth it, for some it won't I think.There are a lot of ways this could go, which I think will delay things even more, and they haven't even perfected the technology yet. The first car was developed in 2005, it's now 2015. It will start to go faster, but I think they are farther away from mainstream than some of you obviously do.

It seems to me this has gone from science fiction to on the road in pretty short order. Every indication is that innovation is speeding up. I have no problem sticking with 20 years.

 

[Foosball God]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

If its proven to be a safer way to travel, why should you be allowed to endanger others? Seems pretty selfish.

So anyone driving a classic vehicle will be outlawed?

 

[E-Z Glider]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

If its proven to be a safer way to travel, why should you be allowed to endanger others? Seems pretty selfish.

So anyone driving a classic vehicle will be outlawed?

obviously, no one knows how it will play out for sure, just seems to me that if its proven to be so much safer to have driverless cars, you're defeating the purpose by allowing manual cars to be on the road with them.

 

[NCCommish]

Where do see data that millennials in suburbia don't own cars?

I know it has decreased, but not as much. I'll try to find another article...I follow the topic pretty closely for business reasons.

I read your Washington Post article but there are a lot of places where there is not a lot of public transportation and you don't live near close enough to ride a bike to work. What other option is there? Urban areas I can see, suburbs not so much.

suburbs/rural areas will probably be less rideshare, but still have driverless...if I had to guess. Rideshare you need a critical mass, however for driverless you don't. It will basically a cheaper option to what the suburbs have now.

I can definitely see a ride share coming and I could see a lot of benefits, but will it really be cheaper? Will you really not have to wait a long time in peak demand times? Hard to say but there are a lot of intriguing possibilities. I'm actually much more on board with this idea then I am about the government outlawing manual drive.

The average American is spending slightly under 10k a year to own a car. So 200 amonth to use any car you want in the fleet is a nice savings. Even 300 would be and both those price points would be below the cheapest cars to own. Making a car financially available to far more people.

Seems low. Cost per mile is 59 cents. That would be just for them to break even. Average american drives 13k miles per year. So the cost for them in gas, wear and tear and insurance would be roughly 650 for month. Now throw in profit which companies like to make.

The cars are in near constant use and 1000's of people are paying for the privilege. All about economies of scale.

This is what I don't agree with. You're going to have huge surges in demand like we do now with roads and the rest of the time, you'll need just a small fraction of the cars. They're going to have to find a place to store an enormous amount of cars. The privilege is nice, but it needs to be convenient. If there's not a huge price savings, I'd rather just own my own and not have to wait for a car like I'm waiting for mass transit.

If it cost you 1/3 what car ownership does would that be enough? How about 1/2? Would an extra 5 grand a year in your pocket do it? I mean the prices will fall, the cars can park where cars park now. Heck maybe you could lease your unused driveway and get a discount. None of this is truly much of an obstacle.

 

[Dentist]

I love the idea of the driverless car. I'd love to travel the country in retirement but sure hate driving. Take that out of the equation and it would rule.

How is a driverless car going to tow my boat or launch it at the ramp though? No way it's going to figure that out.

There are so many factors and companies with money to gain/lose that I doubt it's mainstream in my lifetime and I'm not 40 yet.

I do plan to be a relatively early adopter though.

A world where car fatalities are as infrequent as airline fatalities and where drunk driving isn't a thing is definitely worth moving towards. Classic car enthusiasts be damned

 

[E-Z Glider]

I love the idea of the driverless car. I'd love to travel the country in retirement but sure hate driving. Take that out of the equation and it would rule.

How is a driverless car going to tow my boat or launch it at the ramp though? No way it's going to figure that out.

There are so many factors and companies with money to gain/lose that I doubt it's mainstream in my lifetime and I'm not 40 yet.

I do plan to be a relatively early adopter though.

A world where car fatalities are as infrequent as airline fatalities and where drunk driving isn't a thing is definitely worth moving towards. Classic car enthusiasts be damned

just order up a driverless boat at the lake?

 

[NCCommish]

I love the idea of the driverless car. I'd love to travel the country in retirement but sure hate driving. Take that out of the equation and it would rule.

How is a driverless car going to tow my boat or launch it at the ramp though? No way it's going to figure that out.

There are so many factors and companies with money to gain/lose that I doubt it's mainstream in my lifetime and I'm not 40 yet.

I do plan to be a relatively early adopter though.

A world where car fatalities are as infrequent as airline fatalities and where drunk driving isn't a thing is definitely worth moving towards. Classic car enthusiasts be damned

You get a truck from the fleet and tow what you want. My guess is the vehicle would be able to position itself properly for boat launch but there should be a manual override available.

 

[Brony]

The first trials will be a good blopper reel. But with proper sensor placement and programming it will be able to put a trailer into a very tight space.

HOT

 

[Foosball God]

I love the idea of the driverless car. I'd love to travel the country in retirement but sure hate driving. Take that out of the equation and it would rule.

How is a driverless car going to tow my boat or launch it at the ramp though? No way it's going to figure that out.

There are so many factors and companies with money to gain/lose that I doubt it's mainstream in my lifetime and I'm not 40 yet.

I do plan to be a relatively early adopter though.

A world where car fatalities are as infrequent as airline fatalities and where drunk driving isn't a thing is definitely worth moving towards. Classic car enthusiasts be damned

just order up a driverless boat at the lake?

Doesn't that sound fun

 

[Nugget]

Technology is there now. We are no where near the point where driverless cars will make an impact.

How long does it take to replace a majority of 250MM+ vehicles registered in the US? For reference, Tesla has produced somewhere around 40K cars in their history.

Which senators are going to mandate this and vote for it?

What happens when a pedestrian or cyclist is killed by a driverless car? What is the algorithm to choose which life is more important? Do you run into a tree or a kid?

Lots of questions - don't see this happening before 2050.

 

[NCCommish]

Technology is there now. We are no where near the point where driverless cars will make an impact.

How long does it take to replace a majority of 250MM+ vehicles registered in the US? For reference, Tesla has produced somewhere around 40K cars in their history.

Which senators are going to mandate this and vote for it?

What happens when a pedestrian or cyclist is killed by a driverless car? What is the algorithm to choose which life is more important? Do you run into a tree or a kid?

Lots of questions - don't see this happening before 2050.

As.I.mentioned earlier on average the US fleet turns over every 14 years. Alao mentioned earlier while on California roads the cars have been in 11 accidents all caused by humans. And who has to mandate it? Industry will jump in first due to labor savings. What Senator mandated the first cars?

 

[UniAlias]

I don't understand why people keep bringing up what happens when a driverless car inevitably kills someone. We're tolerating tens of thousands of automobiles deaths every year in this country. Unless these cars go all Skynet on us, the end result is saving massive amounts of lives. Accidents will happen, but I don't see how that will derail progress to a safer and more efficient method of travel.

 

[NCCommish]

I don't understand why people keep bringing up what happens when a driverless car inevitably kills someone. We're tolerating tens of thousands of automobiles deaths every year in this country. Unless these cars go all Skynet on us, the end result is saving massive amounts of lives. Accidents will happen, but I don't see how that will derail progress to a safer and more efficient method of travel.

Yeah I don't see how these things can kill more.people than people already do.

 

[fantasycurse42]

I'm a millennial, I work for a tech company, & I live in an urban area.

I own a car, I enjoy driving it, and this isn't a liberty I'm willing to give up. If the government tells me I can't drive, I won't. Quite honestly, I don't see that happening in my lifetime. Nobody knows what the future holds, so all speculation (just like mine) is just that, speculation.

 

[UniAlias]

Oops. I just thought of a negative. The population boom because people can have sex while the car is driving. My older sister was a "car accident", but I'm pretty sure my parents were parked.

I am curious how a driverless ridesharing service would maintain the vehicle. What's to stop users from puking all over the car or treating it as a toilet... maybe a camera system, but even that would be tough to monitor.

 

[NutterButter]

I don't understand why people keep bringing up what happens when a driverless car inevitably kills someone. We're tolerating tens of thousands of automobiles deaths every year in this country. Unless these cars go all Skynet on us, the end result is saving massive amounts of lives. Accidents will happen, but I don't see how that will derail progress to a safer and more efficient method of travel.

I think its because the irrational backlash you'll get from the populous when this inevitably does happen. Just like when someone dies eating an edible in colorado; its big news. All the other people that die every day doing drugs doesn't register a blip on the radar. Or when Tesla had a few cars catch on fire.

 

[NCCommish]

I'm a millennial, I work for a tech company, & I live in an urban area.

I own a car, I enjoy driving it, and this isn't a liberty I'm willing to give up. If the government tells me I can't drive, I won't. Quite honestly, I don't see that happening in my lifetime. Nobody knows what the future holds, so all speculation (just like mine) is just that, speculation.

So you won't be an early adopter. At some point my guess is economics will win out but no one is saying in 20 years no one will be driving themselves. In fact self driving cars will still be a bit more expensive. We are saying by then a large numberof people will have made the switch and that ride share is the future of urban and suburban travel.

 

[E-Z Glider]

I don't understand why people keep bringing up what happens when a driverless car inevitably kills someone. We're tolerating tens of thousands of automobiles deaths every year in this country. Unless these cars go all Skynet on us, the end result is saving massive amounts of lives. Accidents will happen, but I don't see how that will derail progress to a safer and more efficient method of travel.

WHO CARE ABOUT SAVING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF LIVES... HOW WILL WE FIND INTERESTING NEW NOODLE PLACES?!?!?!

 

[Rooster]

The impacts to the economy will be extraordinary:

- Little to no reason for Truck Drivers, Taxi Drivers, School Bus Drivers, etc. as occupations to exist. There are now millions of people put out of work whose life skills are now obsolete. They need to be retrained so they don't become a drag on the economy. Much more competition for lower skilled jobs during the transition. If there isn't room to make those people productive, expect the Guaranteed Minimum Income political movement to grow.

- I'm guessing things like pilots and the like aren't far behind once the public is sold on the safety.

- Shipping via ground becomes cheaper without labor, probably displaces some other forms of shipments. Local courier services probably take a hit too.

- Less people injured in auto accidents. Drunk driving and texting while driving become non-issues.

- The whole insurance industry is probably hit big, less accidents, fewer individuals with liability (The Uber model will likely become more popular). I'd expect to see other insurance premiums go up to cover some overhead costs that are now covered by auto insurance.

- More consumption of fuel (shipments shifting to ground, empty cars driving to and from places to pick people up) is likely. I'd also guess full service gas stations become more popular to service the driverless cars.

- Even if the Uber model doesn't take off, the days of a multi-car family being common are probably gone.

- Children don't have that same sense of "freedom" at 16 that the rest of us enjoyed, because they can go places by themselves as soon as their parents approve now. I suspect this age will trend down over time as parents deal with, "Aww Dad, Johnny's parents let him go to the mall alone."

- Those who are disabled or too old to drive have newfound freedom.

- Industry built around customizing automobiles and repairing automobiles that have crashed becomes a shadow of their former self. Installers, Body Shops, Car Audio, Manufacturers, etc. all take a big hit business wise, along with the people they employ.

- Dealerships are probably thinned out if the Uber model catches on.

- If the Uber model catches on, look for companies starting to capitalize on the data about your coming and going now that the data is controlled by a few companies. You'll see targeted advertising for restaurants near your work/home, for instance. Maybe your new electronic driver will offer to take you to Restaurant Y for a 20% discount when you ask to go to Restaurant X for your anniversary.

- Auto racing probably declines in popularity as it becomes less relatable.

... the impact will be huge.

 

[NutterButter]

Good luck making this driverless network hacker proof. All it takes is one minivan crash caused by a hacker before people say no thanks. At least with something like a plane, there's a far greater reaction time. All it would take is a second to make a car veer off the road.

 

[Brony]

The impacts to the economy will be extraordinary:

- Auto racing probably declines in popularity as it becomes less relatable.

... the impact will be huge.

I agree with a lot of your points, but I would think there would be a ton of people that would turn to auto racing for the thrill / freedom of driving that they don't get anymore. As spectator sport, though, it might decline.

 

[None_More_Black]

Good luck making this driverless network hacker proof. All it takes is one minivan crash caused by a hacker before people say no thanks. At least with something like a plane, there's a far greater reaction time. All it would take is a second to make a car veer off the road.

Or any kind signal jammer. There are lots of pitfalls and many things will have to be worked out.

 

[roadkill1292]

The impacts to the economy will be extraordinary:

- More consumption of fuel (shipments shifting to ground, empty cars driving to and from places to pick people up) is likely. I'd also guess full service gas stations become more popular to service the driverless cars.discount when you ask to go to Restaurant X for your anniversary. ... the impact will be huge.

Liked your entire post a lot but plucked this line out of it to discuss a little more. It seems to me that robot freight haulers could be adapted to using electricity, even if ranges just improve a little. So what if the truck has to stop and re-charge for one hour out of every four -- it can still run 18 hours a day and it won't get bored or impatient while it's re-charging.

I share your concerns about empty units hustling around, though, and burning up fuel. Maybe sharing will offset that, I dunno.

 

[NCCommish]

Good luck making this driverless network hacker proof. All it takes is one minivan crash caused by a hacker before people say no thanks. At least with something like a plane, there's a far greater reaction time. All it would take is a second to make a car veer off the road.

I'm going to guess Google has put a few minutes and dollars into thinking about and hardening against that. But it is certainly a valid issue.

 

[UniAlias]

Good luck making this driverless network hacker proof. All it takes is one minivan crash caused by a hacker before people say no thanks. At least with something like a plane, there's a far greater reaction time. All it would take is a second to make a car veer off the road.

People said the same kind of things about online banking.

Innovation will find a way. Even if "hackers" somehow find a way to maliciously kill a few folks, it won't stop progress. IMO anyway.

 

[NCCommish]

The impacts to the economy will be extraordinary:

- More consumption of fuel (shipments shifting to ground, empty cars driving to and from places to pick people up) is likely. I'd also guess full service gas stations become more popular to service the driverless cars.discount when you ask to go to Restaurant X for your anniversary.

... the impact will be huge.

Liked your entire post a lot but plucked this line out of it to discuss a little more. It seems to me that robot freight haulers could be adapted to using electricity, even if ranges just improve a little. So what if the truck has to stop and re-charge for one hour out of every four -- it can still run 18 hours a day and it won't get bored or impatient while it's re-charging.I share your concerns about empty units hustling around, though, and burning up fuel. Maybe sharing will offset that, I dunno.

These fleets will go electric pretty quickly I think. The battery tech is almost there and prices are dropping rapidly. I think really long ranges will be possible very soon for something as big as a semi. It can handle larger batteries of course.

 

[Quez]

The impacts to the economy will be extraordinary:

- More consumption of fuel (shipments shifting to ground, empty cars driving to and from places to pick people up) is likely. I'd also guess full service gas stations become more popular to service the driverless cars.discount when you ask to go to Restaurant X for your anniversary.

... the impact will be huge.

Liked your entire post a lot but plucked this line out of it to discuss a little more. It seems to me that robot freight haulers could be adapted to using electricity, even if ranges just improve a little. So what if the truck has to stop and re-charge for one hour out of every four -- it can still run 18 hours a day and it won't get bored or impatient while it's re-charging.I share your concerns about empty units hustling around, though, and burning up fuel. Maybe sharing will offset that, I dunno.

These fleets will go electric pretty quickly I think. The battery tech is almost there and prices are dropping rapidly. I think really long ranges will be possible very soon for something as big as a semi. It can handle larger batteries of course.

I agree. Gas stations will be just the store portions.

The need for many brick and mortar places should significantly decline with the increase of cheap & fast delivery options.

 

[Foosball God]

I don't understand why people keep bringing up what happens when a driverless car inevitably kills someone. We're tolerating tens of thousands of automobiles deaths every year in this country. Unless these cars go all Skynet on us, the end result is saving massive amounts of lives. Accidents will happen, but I don't see how that will derail progress to a safer and more efficient method of travel.

WHO CARE ABOUT SAVING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF LIVES... HOW WILL WE FIND INTERESTING NEW NOODLE PLACES?!?!?!

In 30 years you'll be saying "How many people do I need to kill in order to find some decent noodles!"

 

[NCCommish]

I don't understand why people keep bringing up what happens when a driverless car inevitably kills someone. We're tolerating tens of thousands of automobiles deaths every year in this country. Unless these cars go all Skynet on us, the end result is saving massive amounts of lives. Accidents will happen, but I don't see how that will derail progress to a safer and more efficient method of travel.

WHO CARE ABOUT SAVING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF LIVES... HOW WILL WE FIND INTERESTING NEW NOODLE PLACES?!?!?!

In 30 years you'll be saying "How many people do I need to kill in order to find some decent noodles!"

I'm there now.

 

[Foosball God]

The impacts to the economy will be extraordinary:

- Children don't have that same sense of "freedom" at 16 that the rest of us enjoyed, because they can go places by themselves as soon as their parents approve now. I suspect this age will trend down over time as parents deal with, "Aww Dad, Johnny's parents let him go to the mall alone."

... the impact will be huge.

They won't go to the mall anymore. Everything will be delivered by driverless delivery vehicles.

 

[RCon]

I don't understand why people keep bringing up what happens when a driverless car inevitably kills someone. We're tolerating tens of thousands of automobiles deaths every year in this country. Unless these cars go all Skynet on us, the end result is saving massive amounts of lives. Accidents will happen, but I don't see how that will derail progress to a safer and more efficient method of travel.

I don't think the issue is that there will be more accidents and more deaths. I think the issue is more along the lines of the trolley problem. I'm not sure most people will like the answer.