[Newsbot]

Title: Robot drivers mean good riddance to humans
Category: Tech
Posted By: Regina
Date: 2015-02-05 07:39:04
Canadian

[andyt]

Yes, sounds like a good thing. Sad tho. Wonder at what point human drivers will be banned altogether.

[BartSimpson]

andyt andyt:

Yes, sounds like a good thing. Sad tho. Wonder at what point human drivers will be banned altogether.

The California Legislature held a subcommittee meeting recently to discuss exactly that idea: eventually prohibiting manual driving altogether for safety reasons.

[andyt]

They would have to, otherwise there's no point with robot cars, with humans screwing everything up. Will the NRA defend humans driving as another inalienable right, no matter the carnage it causes?

[BartSimpson]

andyt andyt:

They would have to, otherwise there's no point with robot cars, with humans screwing everything up.

Driving a vehicle is not a right. Travel is a right and a computer driven vehicle will satisfactorily facilitate that right. I frankly look forward to the day that I can get in a car and go from point A to point B without stopping anywhere along the way

The Google engineers and CalTrans (our state department of transportation) believe that a 100% computer driven vehicle environment would include significant savings to local governments by removing the need for any and all street signs. Cars would negotiate safe passage with each other at intersections and would remove the need for traffic lights. Police could be moved from traffic duty to other duties since speed limits will be eliminated and cars will be permitted to make their own choices as to safe and efficient travel speeds.

It's a pretty awesome bit of potential.

Also, the NRA would have nothing to do with the idea and it's just a shade irrational on your part to bring them up in this topic.

[andyt]

Oh, well, I have been known to be irrational from time to time. Or just make a sarcastic remark.

Would also lessen pollution, no stopping. Probably also limit the speed to where the engine is most efficient (even if electric). But the big saving would be in health care.

And with legalization of marijuana, possibly all drugs, by that time, we're going to have to lay off cops by the boatload - fewer cops needed for drug enforcement, no cops spending time investigating accidents or doing drunk driving patrols. No stolen car investigations. No more exciting car chases on tV (there goes somebody's job in teh media). With that and the falling crime rate, being a cop will look like a sunset career.

The remaining cops will love it because if they need to respond to an emergency, their car will just cause all other cars to stop by the side of the road, giving them clear passage at max speed, even at intersections.

[BartSimpson]

andyt andyt:

The remaining cops will love it because if they need to respond to an emergency, their car will just cause all other cars to stop by the side of the road, giving them clear passage at max speed, even at intersections.

This was discussed. Since all cars would likely be moving at the safest and most efficient speed as it is then emergency vehicles would be able to move about that the same speeds and without needing lights or sirens to alert drivers. If the emergency vehicles were permitted to move faster than the prevailing speeds then the other vehicles would just make way without needing to stop.

It's a paradigm shifting concept and the world will be radically different if we do this.

Imagine a police car speeding through traffic silently with all of the cars just silently and seamlessly making way as the cop car passes amongst them. It's hard to imagine.

[Jabberwalker]

Are we going to see 'Bots "with attitude" drag racing each other on the Strip every Friday night?

[stratos]

I would like this for my long distant drives. Austin to Columbus I could just let the car drive itself and I could sleep while the car keeps going.

[andyt]

AGain, much less need for emergency vehicles, since no crashes. Half empty ER's, except for the gunshot wounds (sorry).

Living in a suburb takes 4 years off your life and higher incidence of obesity and diabetes, because nobody walks. We've created a real mess building our cities around the car. Let's hope with this innovation we don't' just further that trend. Like you see in sci-fi with people living in splendid isolation then being whisked by the transportation system to where ever it is they're going. Won't be work or shopping, since those are moving to home based. Not healthy. We need to move our bodies all day - sitting for more than 20 minutes at a time has negative health consequences. We need to be around other people.

So as I think about it, the robot car may cause more problems than solve.

[BartSimpson]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

Are we going to see 'Bots "with attitude" drag racing each other on the Strip every Friday night?

Possible. Drag racing would be so much safer if the cars were driverless.

[BartSimpson]

andyt andyt:

We need to be around other people.

No kidding, CKA is about all I can stand anymore for being around other people.

See, I used to be a people person but people cured me of that.

[stratos]

There is also the economic factor. With Robot driven vehicles the trucking industry would be altered to a huge extent. No more drivers needed. Program the trucks to go from point A to B and once unloaded programed to go from point B to C.

A lot of laid off truckers.

[Jabberwalker]

Easy. They all magically turn into robot repairmen.

[martin14]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

See, I used to be a people person but people cured me of that.