Would You Want a Self-Driving Vehicle?

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Assuming you could afford one, the tech was shown to be safe, and you could get a vehicle that you liked from purpose and appearance perspectives, would you want one?

Over 40,000 people die in auto accidents in the US every year, and 2.5 million end up in the ER. Sure, COVID is worse - but we're never going to have a vaccine against auto deaths.

It seems to me that America should be investing heavily in this tech.

 

[FAUlty Gator]

No. The only reason I would get one is so I could sleep. But there's no way I'd be able to sleep in fear of dying or going the wrong way.

 

[hawkifann]

I definitely want one. I don’t mind driving and there are days where I do love going out for a drive, but most of the time, driving is just a way to get from here to there. I’d rather be productive or watch a movie or take a nap during longer trips.

 

[peacehawk]

Duh. Why do you think I own a Tesla. Best car ever, only going to improve.

 

[seminole97]

It can’t get here soon enough for the mundane driving I do.
Look forward to getting those hours back to focus elsewhere.

 

[seminole97]

Duh. Why do you think I own a Tesla. Best car ever, only going to improve.

Do you have the FSD beta?

 

[EagleHawk]

Maybe in 20-30 years when my driving abilities deteriorate. But for now, just provide them to all the jackholes out there driving while texting or that don't know how to use the left lane for passing only.

 

[LesClaypool]

Absolutely!

 

[h-hawk]

I suspect it will turn out to be like flying cars - only a few more years down the road (ha ha) for decades. And they can't even get the damn things to work on quiet streets. Can you imagine one of those things in heavy traffic. No thanks!

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

No. The only reason I would get one is so I could sleep. But there's no way I'd be able to sleep in fear of dying or going the wrong way.

You went the wrong way years ago.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Assuming you could afford one, the tech was shown to be safe, and you could get a vehicle that you liked from purpose and appearance perspectives, would you want one?

Over 40,000 people die in auto accidents in the US every year, and 2.5 million end up in the ER. Sure, COVID is worse - but we're never going to have a vaccine against auto deaths.

It seems to me that America should be investing heavily in this tech.

I would like a flying vehicle, first......

 

[TylerJ76]

No, I like driving.

 

[Bank of Hawk]

It’ll be interesting for sure to see it how it evolves. I don’t have a problem with a self driving car. Shoot, they might be obsolete by some other new tech or idea by the time they SD is in full effect.

There are industries built around
the ICE and people getting into accidents; so one way to look at it is people, like car insurance agents, body shops, ambulance, on and on and so forth will be out of job, out of work… but you could also look at it as we are freeing up those people in those professions to pursue a career that provides a better value to society as a whole.

 

[Hawki97]

Not yet. I won’t trust it until we make the changes to signage, road configurations / markings, etc. to ensure they’ll actually work as expected. So, owning a self driving car for me would be pointless as I wouldn’t ever really let it take control. I’ve driven a couple and we’re not there yet.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Imagine taxis, Uber and Lyft going driverless. Would the cost go way down?

I'm picturing tapping an app and getting a ride. Then the vehicle goes to a nearby charging station to await the next call.

If you pay by time as well as distance, you could call for an auto-driving moving van (or whatever), load it up and be on your way.

 

[Fan In Black]

no way

 

[dandh]

Absolutely. I retired a few years ago, and when the day comes that I cannot drive myself, it would be awesome to tell my car, "take me to Kinnick" so I could continue to enjoy life. Grocery store, movies, any and every thing would still be an option. It's a wonderful time to be alive.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

When I'm not using my driverless car for my own needs, I could put it in Uber mode and let it earn money for me.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Absolutely. I retired a few years ago, and when the day comes that I cannot drive myself, it would be awesome to tell my car, "take me to Kinnick" so I could continue to enjoy life. Grocery store, movies, any and every thing would still be an option. It's a wonderful time to be alive.

Exactly.

 

[TylerJ76]

Imagine taxis, Uber and Lyft going driverless. Would the cost go way down?

I'm picturing tapping an app and getting a ride. Then the vehicle goes to a nearby charging station to await the next call.

If you pay by time as well as distance, you could call for an auto-driving moving van (or whatever), load it up and be on your way.

Yes, imagine putting all those people out of work.

 

[artradley]

I would like one. But more importantly, I wish everyone else had one because it would eliminate all of the awful drivers in the road.

 

[ericram]

Absolutely!

I do a lot of driving for work these days. And people are horrible drivers. I see several accidents and almost accidents every time I drive. We need more people to drive themselves less. Especially 18 wheelers.

 

[TJ8869]

Can an autonomous vehicle swerve to avoid objects? Last week my daughter (no pics) hit a ladder that was sitting in the middle of the interstate because some dipshit didn’t bother to secure it to his truck properly. She managed to swerve just in time to avoid hitting it with her front tire but it destroyed the rear tire.

What would a Tesla do in that situation?

 

[seminole97]

It’ll be interesting for sure to see it how it evolves. I don’t have a problem with a self driving car. Shoot, they might be obsolete by some other new tech or idea by the time they SD is in full effect.

There are industries built around
the ICE and people getting into accidents; so one way to look at it is people, like car insurance agents, body shops, ambulance, on and on and so forth will be out of job, out of work… but you could also look at it as we are freeing up those people in those professions to pursue a career that provides a better value to society as a whole.

When we stop breaking windows what will happen to all the glaziers?

 

[hawkifann]

Can an autonomous vehicle swerve to avoid objects? Last week my daughter (no pics) hit a ladder that was sitting in the middle of the interstate because some dipshit didn’t bother to secure it to his truck properly. She managed to swerve just in time to avoid hitting it with her front tire but it destroyed the rear tire.

What would a Tesla do in that situation?

A quality self-driving car would absolutely be able to swerve and, on average, would likely do better more consistently than humans. That said, there are still laws of physics - if you’re doing 70 on the interstate and a truck 20 feet in front of you also doing 70 drops a 10-foot ladder, there may not be time to get out of the way.

This is the kind of stuff that needs to be factored into the safety studies. We will never have 100% collision-free driving systems, but we need to evaluate the accidents for improvement opportunities and compare back to the human accident rates.

 

[artradley]

This is the kind of stuff that needs to be factored into the safety studies. We will never have 100% collision-free driving systems, but we need to evaluate the accidents for improvement opportunities and compare back to the human accident rates.

This. If every vehicle was autonomous and 5,000 people died each year because of errors made the vehicle, some would see that as terrible - self driving cars are killing 5,000 people every year. But that would be very favorable compared to what we see today with humans driving.

Are their instances where humans could make a better decision? Absolutely. But on balance that would not necessarily be the case.

 

[beanerhawk]

They are fun to drive, I'll get one when I find one that I like at a price point I'm willing to spend.

 

[onlyTheObvious]

Yes. I would think the tech gets better everyday.

probably wouldn’t trust it to the point of playing with my phone while driving, but someday.

 

[seminole97]

Can an autonomous vehicle swerve to avoid objects? Last week my daughter (no pics) hit a ladder that was sitting in the middle of the interstate because some dipshit didn’t bother to secure it to his truck properly. She managed to swerve just in time to avoid hitting it with her front tire but it destroyed the rear tire.

What would a Tesla do in that situation?

It will 'nudge' the wheel a little bit to try and avoid a side collision, but it won't leave your lane. They don't consider it aware enough of the surroundings to make that kind of escape maneuver and potentially put others at risk.
In your example it would hit the brakes as soon as it determined the problem.

 

[seminole97]

This. If every vehicle was autonomous and 5,000 people died each year because of errors made the vehicle, some would see that as terrible - self driving cars are killing 5,000 people every year. But that would be very favorable compared to what we see today with humans driving.

Are their instances where humans could make a better decision? Absolutely. But on balance that would not necessarily be the case.

Hell, I don't know if they'll ever make better decisions than a human, but I expect they'll pay better attention, and for that reason alone result in a reduction of accidents, injuries, and death.

If something as deadly as cars were brought to the market today I don't think our present NerfWorld mentality would permit them to become a thing.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

I would need rock solid proof that the computer is significantly safer than me doing the driving.

 

[BelemNole]

Yep. We're still probably a decade away from them being commonplace but I'll be on board.
The people most determined to stay behind the wheel are the ones that should be replaced by a computer first.

 

[BC Hawk]

Based on a premise that the tech is good and they work reliably, absolutely. Today? Probably not.

 

[kc78]

Absolutely. Driving, outside of the few times I do it simply for enjoyment seems to be such a waste of my time. Especially for long trips, I'd love to just sit back and read, play a game with the kids, watch a movie, or do anything other than stare numbly at the car in front of me.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

Hey, cool thread OP! 👍🏻

 

[The Tradition]

I would like a self-driving car but I also would want to be able to take control whenever I wanted.

 

[ericram]

Can an autonomous vehicle swerve to avoid objects? Last week my daughter (no pics) hit a ladder that was sitting in the middle of the interstate because some dipshit didn’t bother to secure it to his truck properly. She managed to swerve just in time to avoid hitting it with her front tire but it destroyed the rear tire.

What would a Tesla do in that situation?

Yes. Next question.

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

I absolutely would. I’m too old now to probably see it come to full fruition, but in 50-100 years it will be standard technology in all vehicles and the roads will be far, far more safe to travel on.

 

[TJ8869]

I would like a self-driving car but I also would want to be able to take control whenever I wanted.

This. There's no way in hell I'd ride in one of those Teslas that won't even have a steering wheel.

 

[The Tradition]

This. There's no way in hell I'd ride in one of those Teslas that won't even have a steering wheel.

I can also imagine talking to my car....

"WTF? GO AROUND THIS ASSHOLE! STUPID CAR!"