Trust your computer? GM requests to approval for no steering wheel, brake or gas pedal to be produced in 2019

Had a salesman talk about the auto stop, on a rainy day they ran through the barricade. I deal with computers enough to think 100% trust is not justified. What if the sensors get covered in snow or ice, does the computer decide who lives and who dies, hmm this way one pedestrian, that way 2, no pedestrians killed but driver dies?
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/12/577688125/gm-says-car-with-no-steering-wheel-or-pedals-ready-for-streets-in-2019

1919 . . . ?!

:wink:

Yeah but what do you mean? I get it now will correct, time flies like the wind, and fruit flies like bananas!

It’s like the claim made since the 1950’s there would soon be flying cars. Never materialized. Easy to talk about, but much tougher to solve the practical, political, & liability problems. Computerized driver assisted cars are a reasonable compromise and are here now in the showrooms. Full driverless cars may one day be practical, but only on specially constructed roads.

George, this is serious. GM is petitioning to the US DoT to allow them to build these cars and have them on the roads for trials as early as 2019. I believe that DoT will have a comment period for the ruling that would allow this to take place. That means you can make your comments directly to the people making the rule. It may not matter, as was the case for net neutrality, but ya never know.

I agree, no harm to post a comment at the DOT. We have sort-of Google’s driverless cars on the roads here in the San Jose area, have for a number of years. My solution to that is to not drive to the places they commonly test them. Unfortunately I had to give up on some excellent restaurants there, but no worries, I found some new ones in driverless-car free areas.

Collision avoidance systems will react when danger of collision exists, it can’t prevent a human driver from driving too fast for conditions.

This was a test session showing off the system to salesmen and it failed, due to rain, his advice it is nice but don’t depend on it. Not a driving too fast for conditions, but a failure of the collision avoidance.

Not that I put a lot of stock in any NPR stories anymore but I’m sure there will be a huge price discount from all those missing parts. Next no engine and transmission and just an electric motor so another huge discount. Whoopie.

You should be aware that driverless cars have fewer accidents than standard cars. When they are involved in accidents, it is because a driver does something unpredictable or a driver is distracted by the driverless car and causes both cars to have a collision. I’m skeptical too, and want more testing in a wider number of settings before driverless cars are set loose without tight regulations.

Driver less cars are fine, but no option to take control of your car is what scares me.

Let’s get right down to the bottom line. What is the purpose of a car? Is it to enjoy driving, provide freedom and mobility, provide transportation from point A to point B? Or is it to avoid injury? Life is not safe. We will all end up dead, some sooner and some later. So why have we become so obsessed with making sure all potential for injuries are eliminated? That’s the amazing thing about the body-they self heal in many cases.

Not necessarily us, but businessmen are interested in reducing accidents. Damage and injury is money, and businessmen aren’t gonna take it.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the associated Highway Data Loss Institute were set up and are still funded to force auto builders to knuckle under to auto insurer’s desires to reduce insurer costs. If we pay the same rates and loss costs are reduced, insurers make more money.

I guess it’s better to just go to 100% driverless. Turns out those partial driverless systems don’t work real well, because once the person stops driving, it takes a LONG time to get them alerted to re-take the wheel. They’re reading, sleeping, whatever.

Speak for yourself

I’ve not been so luck recently :frowning:

What’s the problem db?

Where should I begin? :thinking:

Seriously, I don’t feel comfortable discussing all of my health problems on this forum

I’ve mentioned my bad back plenty of times, but I think I’ll go no further than that

Ok, I totally understand. Wishing you improved health asap :slight_smile:

1 Like

Thanks, but many of my problems are congenital and permanent

The ones that are more recent, I’m trying to get a handle on

I’ll dredge up another discussion because I don’t want to start a new one. Somewhat related looking at the missing parts. I got an email with the new Acura RDX prototype, and guess what was missing? Yeah the gear shift. Oh man I thought they would have learned. Couldn’t tell for sure but it looked like a dial knob instead of a gear shift. I don’t know how you get it in park for sure.