If that many people are using them to shuttle back and forth from the train station, I'm sure there'd be some kind of line-based system. The beauty of self-driving vehicles is instead of having it take you to the train station, it might be more feasible and comfortable for it to take you all the way to your destination.
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When self-driving cars become available, will you actually buy one?
- Thread starter Mildredop
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If that many people are using them to shuttle back and forth from the train station, I'm sure there'd be some kind of line-based system. The beauty of self-driving vehicles is instead of having it take you to the train station, it might be more feasible and comfortable for it to take you all the way to your destination.
That would remove the part about self-driving, yes? I went by the assumption that we would have fully autonomous cars, and not just the half-baked attemps we currently are looking at.
Fair point. So you would only buy one if the law completely released you of all responsibility?
It'll be interesting to see if that happens and, if it does, who is responsible when there's an accident (I can't believe there would be a time when accidents were literally impossible).
Yes. I wouldn't be able to sit still for multiple hours, sitting behind a wheel i wasn't expected to touch.
What would really be the point about it otherwise?
I totally agree! What's the point of self-driving if you've got to constantly watch over it? But people are paying thousands for autonomous features on the Tesla even though they're supposed to stay in full control and keep their hands on the wheel.
But equally, I can't see a time that car companies will take full responsibility for any accidents. At least it would be the end of the need for car insurance.
Yes. I'd buy one as long as the price was affordable. Tessa does not currently qualify as affordable. 
As someone who relied on an autopilot for decades (flying), on a highway for long distance driving, I would absolutely use it, if I could trust it. Ironically using an autopilot on an aircraft is much more forgiving than relying on one in your car. It's a thousand feet to a quarter mile leeway vs as little as 5- 15' in a car.
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It would reduce workload, just like cruise control does. The problem is that as people become comfortable with the technology, they will become complacent, guaranteed.
As someone who relied on an autopilot for decades (flying), on a highway for long distance driving, I would absolutely use it, if I could trust it. Ironically using an autopilot on an aircraft is much more forgiving than relying on one in your car. It's a thousand feet to a quarter mile leeway vs as little as 5- 15' in a car.[doublepost=1480517027][/doublepost]
It would reduce workload, just like cruise control does. The problem is that as people become comfortable with the technology, they will become complacent, guaranteed.
I'm assuming he means big trucks aka semi, big rigs, 18 wheelers, tractors and so on. I would like to see those over the road tractor trailers autonomously driven and given dedicated lanes. Ain't nothing more annoying than being stuck behind semi going 66mph, passing a another semi going 65mph, on the interstate.
If I still lived in NYC I'd much prefer the subway: a lot faster! Living in the boondocks, I am probably too old to see the day when self driving cars are practical for the weird back roads up here, but I'd be tempted to have one if I had a commute between a suburb and an upstate city where bus routes are few and far between.
The way the technology now is only is great conditions! Throw hard rain, snow, wild animals in the mix and auto driving technology falls flat on it's face!
It will largely depend upon how much weight the extra processors and sensors add, how they impact balance of the vehicle, and how robust the whole system is. It would also depend on whether it is sophisticated enough to be able to come get me. Like you, I enjoy driving, so I don't want the self-driving infrastructure to detract from the experience of driving; but, if it can come to me when summoned, that might be sufficient utility to consider the additional expense.
Yes, Yes & Yes. If I was a 1 percenter I'd have a driver and never drive myself anywhere. I can't wait for this to happen. They just need to eventually make it mandatory for highway driving and most people would get one. Keep all those slow folks in the fast lane (In America) off the road.
I can't ever see a future where ALL cars drive themselves -- with no human interaction allowed. If we ever have AI that thinks like a human (like the movie Her), then that's a different story.
Pay attention over the next week over how often "manual control" is necessary in your drive.
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edit: Just read @LizKat's post. Roads in cities are crazy. No predetermined software could ever survive driving in modern-day NYC. Might I add--driving in NYC is a lot of fun. Talk about an adrenaline rush!
[doublepost=1481753480][/doublepost]To answer the question of the OP -- I'd like to have the option for long road trips. Like, if my future car comes with self-driving, then great. But it's not #1 on the priority list for me.
Pay attention over the next week over how often "manual control" is necessary in your drive.
- Oh, what a great view, let pull over on the side of the road to get a picture!
- This parking lot is a mess. I have a frontal cortex and even I can't find my way out of it.
- Crap, I left something at home, Let me do a quick U-turn.
- I want to move the car in my driveway so I can play some basketball.
- At this Christmas party, I need to park my car but the driveway is full. I need to park in the grass.
- Drive throughs.
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edit: Just read @LizKat's post. Roads in cities are crazy. No predetermined software could ever survive driving in modern-day NYC. Might I add--driving in NYC is a lot of fun. Talk about an adrenaline rush!
[doublepost=1481753480][/doublepost]To answer the question of the OP -- I'd like to have the option for long road trips. Like, if my future car comes with self-driving, then great. But it's not #1 on the priority list for me.
Yes. Well, one hopes the self-driving cars would be programmed to stop for a stopped school bus. Tens of thousands of them are passed every day now just in New York State alone, by drivers who, one presumes, are too busy to stop for the future of the planet.
I'm sure they would. Probably stop and refuse to pass even an empty school bus without the stop sign out on the side of the road.
Heh, yeah, what a drag. There must be a happy medium between that and a human driver passing a stopped and loaded school bus on the right shoulder of a two-lane road all because he lacks the nerve to pass to the left on a double yellow line around a curve...
Surely with self-driving cars there'd have to be overrides for weird situations like a stalled school bus on the road that was just sitting there empty after a breakdown and waiting for a tow. This must be why it takes so long to develop safe self-driving cars though, stuff like that, or the odd bison in the road when you're driving to work in the morning. Do you pass a bison on the left like it's just another car, or treat it like a drunk human driver and hang back while you try to raise a cop on your cellphone?
When you can't afford to insure your car, this will happen. Car ownership will likely still be a thing, though.
Heh, yeah, what a drag. There must be a happy medium between that and a human driver passing a stopped and loaded school bus on the right shoulder of a two-lane road all because he lacks the nerve to pass to the left on a double yellow line around a curve...
Surely with self-driving cars there'd have to be overrides for weird situations like a stalled school bus on the road that was just sitting there empty after a breakdown and waiting for a tow. This must be why it takes so long to develop safe self-driving cars though, stuff like that, or the odd bison in the road when you're driving to work in the morning. Do you pass a bison on the left like it's just another car, or treat it like a drunk human driver and hang back while you try to raise a cop on your cellphone?
Haha Indeed! Well in FL & GA they have school bus cams and you get a ticket in the mail if you pass one.
and yeah, not so sure auto drive would handle this well!
I had this conversation with my husband just this weekend. Every weekend we make the one hour drive to visit his mother. I do the driving. He sits and plays on his phone or tablet. I would buy a self-driving car in a heartbeat!
It takes 6.5 hours to drive to my mother's house. I wouldn't mind if it was 9 hours if I was merely a passenger and could read, play games, check email for that time in the car.
Bring on self-driving cars!
It takes 6.5 hours to drive to my mother's house. I wouldn't mind if it was 9 hours if I was merely a passenger and could read, play games, check email for that time in the car.
Bring on self-driving cars!
I enjoy driving too much to want a self-driving car.
Aside from that, I think folks often forget that not everyone lives in a city and that there are a LOT more roads out there than in-town surface streets and major interstates.
To be blunt, on two lane country roads-which are the ones I enjoy driving for fun not to mention going to see folks who live there-I see way too many hazards to make it feasible. You have to be on your toes to watch out for downed limbs, road wash-outs, livestock in the road, and deer darting out from nowhere. There are also things like roads that are at best a lane and a half with blind curves-I DON'T want a computer navigating me around one of those.
In addition, how are self driving cars going to handle inclement weather? All the stability control in the world still won't stop a skid on a snowy/icy road, and the good driver just learns to control skids(usually through steering and throttle, not brakes) rather than rely on the car to prevent them. I recall climbing a steep hill one day that was a couple of miles long and had a couple of inches of packed snow on it. I had to turn off stability control as it was bogging the car down so much trying to keep the wheels from spinning that I was afraid I was going to run out of momentum before I got to the top of the hill. Instead, I just judiciously applied the throttle, let the wheels spin a bit, and managed the small amount of fishtaling I was getting as it arose-it was much better than fighting the brakes on the rear wheels.
Aside from that, I think folks often forget that not everyone lives in a city and that there are a LOT more roads out there than in-town surface streets and major interstates.
To be blunt, on two lane country roads-which are the ones I enjoy driving for fun not to mention going to see folks who live there-I see way too many hazards to make it feasible. You have to be on your toes to watch out for downed limbs, road wash-outs, livestock in the road, and deer darting out from nowhere. There are also things like roads that are at best a lane and a half with blind curves-I DON'T want a computer navigating me around one of those.
In addition, how are self driving cars going to handle inclement weather? All the stability control in the world still won't stop a skid on a snowy/icy road, and the good driver just learns to control skids(usually through steering and throttle, not brakes) rather than rely on the car to prevent them. I recall climbing a steep hill one day that was a couple of miles long and had a couple of inches of packed snow on it. I had to turn off stability control as it was bogging the car down so much trying to keep the wheels from spinning that I was afraid I was going to run out of momentum before I got to the top of the hill. Instead, I just judiciously applied the throttle, let the wheels spin a bit, and managed the small amount of fishtaling I was getting as it arose-it was much better than fighting the brakes on the rear wheels.