Google's Self-Driving Cars Pass 300,000 Miles Accident-Free

[Lancer873]

I will trust unmanned cars the moment everyone is using them. Then cars will be able to communicate with each other and traffic will be optimized. Crashes will still be a thing as long as there's one person left driving manually, and I'd like to be able to see my crashes coming.

Crashes will still be a thing, sure.. but they'll only be happening between human driven cars.

These things aren't just driving from point to point from a map. They're already taking into account the traffic around them via various sensors on all sides. And what this means is that the car can "see" all around it all the time, with no blind spots or having to focus in just one direction at a time like we do.

In addition, not only can the car see that something is approaching it too fast, it can see how fast that something is decelerating, judge the distance between you and it, and adjust speed the right amount to avoid not only being hit, but also to avoid hitting someone else while trying to dodge.

You say you'd like to see your crashes coming, but when you think about it, at least one party in every accident didn't see the crash coming - otherwise it would have been avoided in the first place. The driverless car, though, will never be that one.

I meant more along the lines of being able to brace for impact but yea, that is a point. I'm all for the driverless cars, I just realize that even the best driver - virtual or not - can still get into a crash if a drunk driver hits them from the rear. I don't mean to say I wouldn't use them, just that I'd still have a bit of a fear as long as I know there's a possibility that a poor driver could be the death of me.

 

[theultimateend]

Bullshit. I'm not believing in any self-driving car until it starts complaining and calling me "Michael". In short, make it pass a Turing Test FIRST, then we'll talk.

Should I be weirded out by that?

Cause my name is Michael.

I'd be happy it knew my name.

I'd ride in this tomorrow, frankly.

I meant more along the lines of being able to brace for impact but yea, that is a point. I'm all for the driverless cars, I just realize that even the best driver - virtual or not - can still get into a crash if a drunk driver hits them from the rear. I don't mean to say I wouldn't use them, just that I'd still have a bit of a fear as long as I know there's a possibility that a poor driver could be the death of me.

It's better to not brace for impact. If you are limp you are less likely to suffer all the kinetic energy.

That's one of the theories behind why drunk drivers survive when everyone they hit tend to be mutilated or dead.

I would hardly call twelve cars a "fleet".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet

"A fleet is a collection of ships or vehicles, with many specific connotations:
Fleet vehicles, two or more vehicles"

So yes, it is not only a fleet it is 6 times more than the minimum requirement to be a fleet.

 

[FoolKiller]

Would you ever trust such a car?

Short answer: No.
Long answer: Noooooooooooo!!!!!!

Fuck all the creepy Skynet references as well. In seriousness, I can't see myself putting my life completely in the hands of a machine. The programming for such a feat to be safe is ridiculous. There are already too many sensors and computers working inside a car and they aren't reliable enough as it is.

I've been in all sorts of cars with all sorts of stupid malfunctions. I was in a car where you couldn't roll the electronic window up because it thought that it was already rolled up. I was in a car where the check engine light (a previously important indicator) was on because the mass flow sensor thought there wasn't any air entering the vehicle. I've been in numerous vehicles where all sorts of gauges weren't working, whether it be temperature, fuel, speed, distance or anything else.

Let's assume that they manage to get the programming correct for the driving portion (which is a ludicrous assumption to make), what happens when a crappy little sensor says that there is a street where now an accident has occurred?

A car has no survival instinct or anything of that nature. I do. I've come to a stop at a green light because something felt wrong. A car ran the red light in the other direction a second later. Any automated automobile would have killed me that day.

 

[FoolKiller]

But to be entirely honest, the thing that turns me off about these the most is the prospect that they would prevent rolling stops, mild speeding and other things I enjoy.

Oddly enough I thought about this. If everyone had one, the speeds maintained would be higher and you would only need to stop for pedestrians and such. It would turn into yield signs. Since the computers could theoretically handle and react to everything quicker than people, we would have quicker commutes everywhere.

 

[Kurt Cristal]

I sooner trust a computer to give me a lift than most people I know. Also I think we all want to know, can the google car beat the stig?

THIS. "And now it's time to see how fast the Google car goes around our track!"

For an added bonus they'll stick James May in the passenger seat of the Google car and send him through the Nurburgring.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I sooner trust a computer to give me a lift than most people I know. Also I think we all want to know, can the google car beat the stig?

THIS. "And now it's time to see how fast the Google car goes around our track!"

For an added bonus they'll stick James May in the passenger seat of the Google car and send him through the Nurburgring.

LOL, we need to mass email the BBC to make this happen.

"That means handing it over to our tame racing driver. He's not the Stig, but he the Stig's sentient AI cousin"

 

[Evil Smurf]

I will call mine night rider, or bumble bee

 

[Evil Smurf]

I sooner trust a computer to give me a lift than most people I know. Also I think we all want to know, can the google car beat the stig?

THIS. "And now it's time to see how fast the Google car goes around our track!"

For an added bonus they'll stick James May in the passenger seat of the Google car and send him through the Nurburgring.

LOL, we need to mass email the BBC to make this happen.

"That means handing it over to our tame racing driver. He's not the Stig, but he the Stig's sentient AI cousin"

Kickstart this idea?

 

[Judgement101]

It's official, humans are useless. There are factories that repair themselves, shelves that stock themselves, and cars that drive themselves.