Have you ever been on an airplane?
Would you put your life in the hands of a computer chip?
37,000 killed in traffic accidents in 2016 in US alone, 95% caused by human error. Let's hope Apple and other companies can protect us from ourselves
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And I’m guessing a lot of those fatal accidents are a result of people texting and DUI of alcohol and/or drugs.
Until people can put aside their selfish needs, no amount of tech will save us from ourselves I’m afraid.
Cannot wait until these little fender benders involving autonomous vehicles are so common that we don't even hear about them. That will mean that the public has finally absorbed the small cost of progress and have overcome the irrational fear of technology on the roads.
Apple is testing its self-driving vehicles in a number of Lexus SUVs out on the roads of Cupertino, and on August 24, one of those vehicles was involved in an accident.
Apple is required to disclose autonomous vehicle collisions to the California DMV, and the information on the accident was published on the DMV's website.
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According to the accident details, the vehicle in question was in autonomous mode at the time, and sustained moderate damage in the crash, but it does not appear that Apple was at fault for the collision. From the accident report:Apple has been testing its self-driving software in Lexus RX450h SUVs in Cupertino, California and surrounding areas since early 2017, but this is the first time an Apple vehicle has been involved in a crash.
Apple's test vehicles are outfitted with a host of sensors and cameras, and while they are autonomous, each one has a pair of drivers inside. At the current time, Apple is testing its software in more than 60 vehicles.
It's not yet clear what Apple plans to do with its self-driving software, but it could be added to existing cars and there are still rumors suggesting Apple is working on its own Apple-branded vehicle that could come out by 2025.
Apple is also working on a self-driving shuttle service called "PAIL," an acronym for "Palo Alto to Infinite Loop." The shuttle program will transport employees between Apple's offices in Silicon Valley.
Article Link: Apple Autonomous Test Vehicle Involved in Accident on August 24
Your scenario is not acceptable on an ethical nor technological level. Less death is always good but the acceptance of any number is wrong. Accidents are not acceptance of fatalities, they are just the cause and there will always be accidents where humans are concerned.For me, and I'll ask you here for what you think as this will be an interesting as a gauge of acceptance.
If you knew 50,000 car drivers in a year were killed by human drivers, and of course you sadly accept this as just a price worth paying for the freedom to own a motor car.
If then, we replaced them with driverless cars, which still had accidents as you can't account for everything...
But that these new computers, only killed 30,000 of their passengers.
Would you say that was acceptable. It's 20,000 people alive/saved that would otherwise have been killed.
And we should not go to town on the companies that made these systems, and demand fix's as we can't have 30,000 people killed by a computer driver each year.
I genuinely don't think we as a society are ready to accept this.
We only need say a Audi, or Volkswagen, or Tesla, or Apple car to kill perhaps 5 people in one month for the courts and legal system and media to go totally ape crazy and demand things shut down till fix's can be assured.
For the car companies to just basically say "hey, ok so our cars kill a few, but they are still safer than humans" just is not going to be accepted at all....
Your thoughts?
Cannot wait until these little fender benders involving autonomous vehicles are so common that we don't even hear about them. That will mean that the public has finally absorbed the small cost of progress and have overcome the irrational fear of technology on the roads.
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Your scenario is not acceptable on an ethical nor technological level. Less death is always good but the acceptance of any number is wrong. Accidents are not acceptance of fatalities, they are just the cause and there will always be accidents where humans are concerned.
That being said, if all vehicles were replaced by autonomous cars, there should be zero fatalities. If there were any accidents, the problem should and could be addressed with software updates. It's no different than billions of electrons per second moving along a CPU. Unfortunately we are a long way from all vehicles being autonomous. There will be an overlap for decades because people are fearful, stubborn and selfish so they won't give up their cars, guns, carbon footprints, etc. willingly.
No.Well it did say the car was merging in to another road at the time.
PS please stay civil
Here is the Webster Definition of P R E P A R EOn August 24th at 2:58 p.m., an Apple vehicle in autonomous mode was rear-ended while preparing to merge . . . . .
1a : to make ready beforehand for some purpose, use, or activity
b : to put in a proper state of mind
- prepare food for dinner
2: to work out the details of : plan in advance
- is prepared to listen
3a : to put together : compound
- preparing a campaign strategy
b : to put into written form
- prepare a prescription
intransitive verb
- prepare a report
: to get ready
- preparing for a career
And tell that to owners of $60,000-$80,000 cars that are told they need to be replaced by next year.It’ll take 25+ years for self-driving vehicles to even be the majority of vehicles on the road unless they pass laws that ban vehicles driven by humans at an earlier point. Considering the time it’ll take for the total replacement cycle laws might need to be passed to speed up the process.
With all the sensors merging should be a piece of cake vs stopping on the expressway like what a bad or inexperienced driver would do. Also, doesn't it have collision avoidance like Tesla to avoid those situations?
Autonomous vehicles are dangerous in a mixed environment. Either all vehicles are equipped and using autonomous technology or none are. Deaths have already been attributed to vehicles using a semi-autonomous mode. Keep these autonomous vehicles off the streets and highways until such time technology has proven able to handle the infinite variables and situations operating a motor vehicle. I believe that an advanced bullet proof system would be really great. Just get in, tell the machine where to go and away it goes..but not yet...
Can’t believe The auto insurance companies won’t spend every penny trying to prevent autonomous cars from taking off. Eventually we won’t need auto insurance anymore since all the cars will talk to each other and accidents won’t happen
Since I was not able to send you a PM, I’ll ask hereI don’t think that’s it, I think people are just negligent and Careless to other people on the roadway today, and they have no due regard to other drivers and traffic laws, I’m not speaking to specifically to this accident between the Leaf and Apple vehicle, but more in relation to your post about people driving to antagonize the Apple vehicle.
Have you ever been on an airplane?
In California "Entrance Ramp" is to be used to speed up to match the traveling speed of the divided highway you are entering.Since I was not able to send you a PM, I’ll ask here
I figured you would be able to better answer this considering your profession
Wouldn’t Apple’s car be in some of the blame, like 20% because coming to a complete stop while trying to merge is a little dangerous? Human drivers would at least try to get in there (which sometimes goes badly)
Where is the Microsoft phone?Where is the Microsoft car?
Autonomous vehicles are dangerous in a mixed environment. Either all vehicles are equipped and using autonomous technology or none are. Deaths have already been attributed to vehicles using a semi-autonomous mode. Keep these autonomous vehicles off the streets and highways until such time technology has proven able to handle the infinite variables and situations operating a motor vehicle. I believe that an advanced bullet proof system would be really great. Just get in, tell the machine where to go and away it goes..but not yet...
Saw one of these self driving cars on the freeway (Apple I believe?) yesterday was shocked to see people driving in such a way to antagonize the vehicle intentionally. The person behind was inches off their bumper. I guess some people like to see the world burn.
No you aren't. Blanket statements like that are ridiculous and unhelpful. The world is not black and white.In driving school, you learn that the vehicle who rear ends another is at fault no matter what. If you hit someone, you get a ticket for following too closely. There are only two ways to rear end someone -- following too closely, or being distracted and not hitting the brake fast enough.
The article said the Apple car was waiting for a gap in highway traffic while trying to merge. You can't get onto the highway by putting your car inside of another car, that's not how physics work; you have to wait for a gap.
People are on their phones too much these days. The driver of the Leaf was probably texting.