Gov. Brown signs bill to allow "self driving" cars on California Roads

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-self-driving-car-law-20120925,0,4332330.story

Discuss...

 

Slowly start drifting into the car's lane and watch as it slams it's breaks and the "passengers" inside freak out.

 

Pretty sure they did this in either Arizona or Nevada a while back. Computers are probably better drivers than most humans, so I don't see the harm in it.

 

HAHAHA

I have a few concerns. Contruction zones: How the hell can a computer tell that the man in the orange reflective shirt and hard hat holding up his palm to you means STOP there's a tractor crossing the road. Inclement weather: can the tires assume there's ice/water/snow on the road and adjust the driving strategy accordingly? And from my experience, computers will eventually break down. What happens when one does, at 180k miles of "self driving". The driver has assumed the car to be functioning properly, thus his guard is down...then WHAMMMM. Into a wall. GPS maps need to be updated all the time...the list goes on.

But if this does become mainstream, traffic cops and red light cameras will be completely obsolete.

 

It won't become mainstream. Maybe some people will choose to sit in a vehicle and have it take them everywhere like a personal driver, but cars are so deeply engrained in our society, people are not going to willingly give up driving as a whole.

 

http://youtu.be/OEu4Iq5KL-Q

 

"Sir, my calculations indicate the use of the ATRAC module to be futile in your efforts to maneuver over the following 4 speed bumps...also, the Mrs. Field's Cookies you were looking for is on the adjacent side of the mall. Would you like me to park?"

 

This^^^^^

 

Something like this was tested a while back in SD. The guidance for the system was more sensors or magnets in the ground than GPS navigated. The beta test used the HOV lanes from HWY52 to Ted Williams PKWY. It seemed successful but died shortly thereafter. That was close to 10 years ago. It seems like a revival of another failed attempt but I am interested to see where this leads to the future.

Have you ever seen when you take the exit ramp off the highway and a GPS system still shows you on the highway? Imagine that cluster with a GPS guided vehicle. I think there are several variables that need to be considered; obviously safety, accuracy, oh and actually getting to your destination. I hate it when the GPS leads me to a place that is not really there.

 

Or worse...when you're changing freeways and you're on the dinosaur tail overchange that's 100ft in the air, going the opposite direction your GPS says you're going

 

Half are already uninsured with no drivers license, might as well put them in the passenger seat.

So when someone gets killed by one of these cars by a driver who's plowed, who gets sued; the auto manufacture, the government or the driver?
This is a bad idea.

 

No more road dome. ll be in the back seat..

No more duis either