Driver-less cars are coming

[philg]

From today's Guardian Bike Blog

Anyone else frightened?

[LollyKat]

Yes!

[mill4six]

I'm looking forward to it. My driving is getting ropier by the day, bring it on.

[Adam S]

Weren't we all meant to be using electric/hydrogen fuelled cars by now?

Problem is that some of the least safe drivers are the very same ones who won't want to relinquish control, either for manhood-compensating reasons or because these cars would travel more slowly by sticking to speed limits and not overtaking dangerously. I can imagine certain drivers' blood vessels bursting at having to wait behind a cyclist, particularly if the horn was no longer in their control. Overall though, they could be a 'good thing' for cyclists.

[beetroot]

If this happens there will be a manual override option, so don't get too excited. Boy racers will still have their toys

[horizon]

Can anyone tell me where these cars will be going and why?

[fluffybunnyuk]

I'm more scared of meeting these at roundabouts...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2448352/Ten-lorry-computerised-convoys-introduced-Britains-motorways-cut-fuel-costs-save-lives.html

[snibgo]

Poor old car drivers, who already have enough problems with cyclists drafting each other; how on earth will they cope with train-loads of lorries?

[[XAP]Bob]

Bring on the driverless car.

Sooner we get rid of the nut behind the wheel the better.

[Elizabethsdad]

As someone who doesn't like driving and is not particularly good at it - especially parking - I would love a car that did the driving for me for those journeys where the car is the best option. I also think it would improve road safety by removing human error and unpredictability. Manual overide should be included but only to bring to car to a stop in the event of a malfunction or emergency or to allow the car to be driven at a maximum speed of 20mph. Even with manual overide, the anti-collision system should still be operative. In short the car will only proceed when both the driver and the car agree that it is safe to do so.

[philg]

If this technology can really be made to work reliably, then it does raise some interesting possibilities.

Cars would become smaller and lighter, not needing the crash protection bloatedness of modern cars. The motorways would be fast moving convoys of closely spaced vehicles drastically increasing throughput and reducing the need for yet more roads.

All occupants could eat/talk/work/play during the journey

Whither HS2 now? (declared axe to grind here)

[Geriatrix]

Driverless cars don't scare me. I welcome the development. Computers don't get distracted, or drive in a distracted state. Computer error will result in a lot less casualties than human error. It will however result in some interesting dynamics because computers will drive and respond to traffic situations in a predictable way, and it won't take long before non-computer road users will work out how to exploit that.

[Vorpal]

I think I prefer computers driving. They're less likely to make dodgy overtakes or pull out in front of me. They will probably be more predictable, too. The only disadvantage. The evil eye won't work on them.

Actually, what worries me the most about driverless cars is the continued increasing consumption of energy. Until we have solar cars and the like, each little increase in convenience means the world consumes more limited resources.

The worst outcome, IMO is that everyone uses their cars to drop them off where there isn't parking. So, instead of walking, cycling, or using public transport, people solve the lack of parking by taking the car & sending it home again. Then the car makes two short trips, instead of one.

[gordy]

I heard Carlton's talk last weekend and was fascinated. I'm hooked on the idea - a driverless car wouldn't, under any circumstances, career round a blind bend in the expectation that all would be clear.

One of the other advantages of driverless cars is that streets can be de-cluttered. There will be no need for speed limit signs, one-way signs, bollards etc etc.

Bring it on!

[sjs]

An interestingly positive response from everyone. I just worry about accountability for accidents, not that there is much at the moment. "It was the computer's fault, nothing to do with me".