Would you trust a self driving car?

[Qwerty321]

With all the hype over Tesla's autopilot and the way it supposedly actually works, it looks like cars capable of driving themselves will become a normal thing in a decade or two. It'll be the automatic transmission of this generation

What are your thoughts on self driving cars? Personally I'd never give up the controls and let a computer take over. Well maybe if it was a relatively straight carriageway with good visibility, but I'd have my hands ready. Personally, I don't even trust the cruise control in my BA lol. So would you trust a self driving car? Maybe I'm just paranoid...

[99AUXR]

I would rather cars self driving than some of the people out there on the road .

[Maka]

No thanks, I cherish my freedom!!! The social consequences are not known yet, let alone the how they operate in traffic. I do know E Musk wants all ic motored cars legislated off the road now, he can get stuffed afaik.

cheer's, Maka

[Terror_Tree]

I won't be convinced until a car can come and pick me up from the pub and drive me home

[bernbo]

Would you trust VW to make it?

[CoupeKing]

Originally Posted by Terror_Tree

I won't be convinced until a car can come and pick me up from the pub and drive me home

Hopefully it evolves and makes a pit stop so we can grab a kebab, or if it malfunctions, it's within stumbling distance of the local Brothel... Ohh, I mean public transport.

[Iggle Piggle]

Not for me thanks. Have seen a documentary on the **** that can go wrong scares me.

[NAK302]

Originally Posted by bernbo

Would you trust VW to make it?

sure, i'd trust them more than the government.

[superyob]

No, no and no!!!

[TheInterceptor]

Absolutely not.

It's funny, it's meant to be a democracy (so they say) but we just keep losing freedom year after year. This is just another thing.
Wouldn't trust such vehicles regardless. No way. After decades of electronics, we still have electronics that malfunction. It's just a natural thing. Any software will malfunction. Including that of self driving cars. Maybe not after the first month, or year but one day. And it only takes one car to take off at 100kph through a school zone and mow down little johnny and all his classmates.

Bring back carburettors....

[wodahs]

Originally Posted by TheInterceptor

Absolutely not.

It's funny, it's meant to be a democracy (so they say) but we just keep losing freedom year after year. This is just another thing.
Wouldn't trust such vehicles regardless. No way. After decades of electronics, we still have electronics that malfunction. It's just a natural thing. Any software will malfunction. Including that of self driving cars. Maybe not after the first month, or year but one day. And it only takes one car to take off at 100kph through a school zone and mow down little johnny and all his classmates.

Bring back carburettors....

Saw a good question put forward over this some ware just recently

If it does malfunction and kill some one , who is then responsible/held to blame ?
The driver ?
May be the car manufacturer !
Or would it be the software producer .
Or some one else

So when are they bringing out for me the walkless walker

[ford71V8]

I don't like being a passenger as it is.
Can't imagine feeling too comfortable sitting there by myself

[mik]

There's a video of a Tesla in self drive mode, it is running along fine and then decides to cross the road towards an oncoming car, no emergency braking or anything happening, luckily the driver grabbed it and steered it to safety,
so for Tesla's effort, it would be no, no, no.
maybe on about 20 years when self driving cars get better........... I might think about it.
What happens if a carrington event occurs while your motoring down the freeway and reading the paper ? We had a mild CME last week that caused electro edit: magnetic interference in some countries.

[GasoLane]

NO, Not to mention that in the event of a crash it could be an Insurance nightmare.

[Grunter]

Absolutely! As long as it wasn't a full time thing.

I'd like the best of both worlds, auto drive for the commute to work and highway travel, and then drive on all the fun bits.

[Carrion]

I think I could get used to sitting in the back seat having a few beers on the way home from work.

[castellan]

Never !

A lot of people fear cruise control because they are just hopeless drivers.

[xisled]

As long as it was not named Skynet.

[wodahs]

^^^so roadnet be ok ��

[Ryan]

No. The thought of sitting back and letting the car drive itself would freak me out.

Maybe after a few years where it's been tested thoroughly, but I certainly wouldn't line up to buy one of the first ones.

[Express]

Once the manufacturers get through the current R&D and they hit the roads meeting the relevant design and safety rules I’d go for it.

Though I’m like Gunter and would want to be able to pick and choose when I engage it and from what I understand that’s the way they’ll at least initially be released.

Many things can have a product failure and cause a fatality but many road deaths are brought about by the simple inattentiveness of drivers.

When the system is up and running, if I had to toss a coin I’d bet on the cars computer system being safer than a lousy driver.

[Iggle Piggle]

Funny thing is we resist it in cars yet think nothing of it or have no idea of how much of the flights we take are controlled by computer.

The other day coming in to Adelaide the captain came on the radio and told us the computer was going to land the plane.

I'm sure pilots are needed for situations where there is a malfunction or some other kind of situation that requires human intervention, but I reckon the biggest role they play is providing a human presence in the cockpit so that we get on the plane in the first place.

[OzJavelin]

I'd guess that self-driving vehicles only real work effectively where all the other vehicles on the road are self-driving; i.e. less chance of something "unexpected" happening.

As this concept gets greater momentum that they will look to force people into using it. Not sure what happens to other road users like motorbikes, push-bikes, horse-riders, etc ..

Maybe ends up as two tiers of road? One for the autonomous vehicles and one for "everything else" ..

[Cobra]

Trust? No, I could never entirely trust a self-steering piece of machinery. I'm not saying that I'd rule out ever driving one as I'm sure they will be the norm in the next 10-20 years, but trust isn't a word I'd use to describe my feelings towards such a vehicle. Apprehension and uneasiness would be more apt adjectives, at least initially.

[cheap]

It will be a lawyers paradise.

Blame the driverless car, or the other driver, or a part of the automation system, or an electrical fault, or the software, or the hardware, or a sensor, or a software patch, or mechanical failure which the automation failed to notice, or a virus, or skippy didn't do what he was supposed to do, or the self drive car killed the pedestrian because it was programmed to protected the occupants of the vehicle... when it all goes wrong one thing is certain the automation will provide an endless combination of who the blame.

[mik]

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

I'd guess that self-driving vehicles only real work effectively where all the other vehicles on the road are self-driving; i.e. less chance of something "unexpected" happening.

As this concept gets greater momentum that they will look to force people into using it. Not sure what happens to other road users like motorbikes, push-bikes, horse-riders, etc ..

Maybe ends up as two tiers of road? One for the autonomous vehicles and one for "everything else" ..

i think the roadways also have to be suitable for autonamas cars too dont they ? they also use linemarking as cues to follow on the roadways, not soley but as part of the system, more cues = more safety points ?

[ford71V8]

They take away all the fun things

[TUF_302]

Cant drive any worse than my missus lol

[Madaya]

Good point made on the aircraft auto land system. So at the moment the technology is in it's infancy, but give it another 5 years and we'll have cars
that will outdo humans in any situation and driverless racing cars that likewise will win all the races (and electric at that).

Once the technology is mature, yes and yes.

[Franco Cozzo]

There will be some sort of logic programmed into the car about crashing.

Do I go off the side of the road and certainly kill that pedestrian I have seen?

Do I save the pedestrian and kill the passengers inside by hitting the oncoming object?

The car will be programmed to make a call like that.