Miscellaneous News Thread

semipenguin said:
Cell phones have caused more driving related deaths than any self driving car. Is anyone suing cell phone manufacturers?
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Lawyers will go after any name associated with the accident that they can. The deeper the pockets, the more likely they are to list them. They will look for anything that could have had played a part in the accident.

I agree about the cell phones. There have been some attempts to get them to disable phones while cars are in motion.

I don't see why there's such a rush for driverless cars anyway.
 
HecticArt said:
I don't see why there's such a rush for driverless cars anyway.
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I’ve heard an few programs on NPR talk about driverless cars.

The main reason is money. Uber and Lyft won’t have to pay a driver. They can keep all the money for themselves. I’m sure that will be the same reason why trucking companies will want them, too.

Car companies want driverless cars so people can pay a monthly subscription to be driven to and from places. People won’t have to make monthly car and insurance payments.

Millennials are more inclined to wanting that. Less hassle. Just use your phone to page a car to come pick you up and take you to Chuck E. Cheese. The Apple store. Wherever.

They already have car sharing apps where you can rent a car parked on the street, to take you where you want to go. The next step is to just eliminate the steering wheel and gas and brake pedals.

Self driving cars will virtually eliminate traffic. If cars talk to each other, they can adjust for speed and turning. Traffic will flow a lot better. No assholes who think they can drive 20 mph faster than everyone else just to change three lanes to get off at the next exit.
 
HecticArt said:
I don't see why there's such a rush for driverless cars anyway.
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It's because people don't want to drive. They would rather be doing anything else. They want to watch tv or play games or talk to friends. When they are driving they are alone with themselves and they can't stand it.
 
semipenguin said:
Self driving cars will virtually eliminate traffic. If cars talk to each other, they can adjust for speed and turning. Traffic will flow a lot better. No assholes who think they can drive 20 mph faster than everyone else just to change three lanes to get off at the next exit.
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The assholes will still want to hotdog around everyone, and it will take decades before even half of the cars are self-driving, so we'll still be stuck behind jack-wagons driving 3 miles under the limit in the fast lane.

If self driving cars can talk to each other, will they be able to cuss each other out too???
 
HecticArt said:
The assholes will still want to hotdog around everyone, and it will take decades before even half of the cars are self-driving, so we'll still be stuck behind jack-wagons driving 3 miles under the limit in the fast lane.

If self driving cars can talk to each other, will they be able to cuss each other out too???
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I think you both have a point. Semi has the right idea thinking that a highway full of SDCs would lessen traffic congestion. However, our current highway systems are not designed to actually eliminate traffic.

For example, I drive through a cloverleaf intersection between a 3-lane and 4-lane highway. There's one exit lane for each, and they cross over each other. Even if the SDCs could get all the exiting cars over to the right, it's still simple physics that the exits will back-up the exiting traffic. And in turn, that will back-up all the traffic.

Most likely, SDCs will be employed where people want them employed: to do trucking (sorry Semi) and to taxi people around.
 
I think the most likely scenario is that the switch to self driving cars will happen much faster than other sorts of changes, and faster than many people predict. The push to capitalize on the change, the pent up demand, the secondary benefits, all of that will accelerate the rate of change. Adoption won't happen at telephone pace, but at smartphone pace. There is tremendous economic pressure to convert, enough to accept the risks of rapid adoption. Money talks.
 
semipenguin said:
Millennials are more inclined to wanting that. Less hassle. Just use your phone to page a car to come pick you up and take you to Chuck E. Cheese. The Apple store. Wherever.
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HAH!!

I guess I'm in the habit of highlighting comments that made me laugh tonight because this is another one.
 
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