Driverless Taco, yay or nay?

We were having a conversation today at work regarding driverless cars. I was surprised at the number of people stoked on the idea. For them, driving is just a big hassle. They want their vehicle to be like a private bus that drives them to work.

Me, I consider driving one of the great freedoms we can still enjoy, and I don’t want the techno-nerds to take it away from me. I worry that once driverless cars and trucks are more widely adopted, human-directed driving itself will became banned in some way.

Anyways.......if your 3G Taco, or the next Tacoma you buy, could be driverless, would you do it? I was wondering what y’all think.

 

I agree with you, enjoy driving too much. Would not buy driverless vehicle.

 

I'm scared as shit of those driverless Ubers coming. Does the driverless Uber still ask me if I'm David before I hop in?

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7qnd-hdmgfk

 

Nay.

I have had these conversations recently with some work friends. Still dont trust it. I want to be in control. Plus how expensive will those first generation massed produced cars will be let alone a taco. I have 2 manual transmission cars (taco and jeep) because they are cheaper and I have full control of what I drive. Freedom!

 

I have a young relative who is disabled. I am looking forward to the time they reach adulthood (about 8 years from now), and being able to provide them with an autonomous vehicle. To me, that represents giving them freedom.

But I agree with you 100%, for civilization as a whole, autonomous vehicles represent a loss of "freedom".

I read something awhile back that the there is a 21st century "space race" to master AI (artificial intelligence).

Driverless vehicles are just a small part of that bigger picture.

I believe that this revolution means that life 50 years from now will be as different as life was 500 years ago from our current perspective.

Can't stop progress.

Just keep your mind, arms and legs etc. in good working order. That biological system is so complex, it's likely never to be equaled.

Humans can exist quite nicely without any technology. Technology cannot exist without humans though.

 

Made a living off repairing and maintaining multi-million dollar industrial electromechanical machines and their networks. Oh, hell no.

 

To be fair, public transport isn't an option for everyone. There's no bus or train that goes anywhere near where I work.

I also enjoy driving so that's just fine by me, but I'm sure if I dealt with traffic everyday I might feel differently.

 

No fun at all. But I have learned to appreciate adaptive cruise control. They are good for giving some freedom to the disabled, elderly, and requires floor mat warning labels crowd though.

 

If you want to go driverless might as well get a smart car. No point in having a Tacoma if you can't drive it. IMHO

 

It’s a controversial idea around here, but you might actually want to use it as a truck.

 

At 29, self driving technology doesn't interest me in the slightest. I feel like it's the "flying car" of our generation.

 

The Tacoma seems like a poor vehicle to impose driverless tech on. It’s neither fuel efficient nor designed well for human comfort, and it is built to be used in places that will have lots of irregularities that will confuse a smart car (no curb and gutter, no hi-vis striping, minimal google “3D” street mapping). But the tech will be here soon, and the clogged 405 and 91 in my backyard will certainly move more bodies more efficiently without frustrated drivers at the wheel. Driverless tech makes more sense in densely populated metro hubs, so you’ll see it there first and predominantly, I figure. Geography is destiny.

 

In theory, driverless cars will reduce the inchworm issue that happens in heavy traffic. People speed up too slow and let gaps grow in front of them before moving and slow down too late causing the contraction and then react and speed up too slow when it starts moving again. Driverless cars should be able to move in unison assuming they can speak to each other. Its also theorized that a swarm of driverless cars could open a gap for a lane change as well without the cutting someone off we all slam the brakes and then don't speed back up fast enough inchworm as well.

I have no interest in it. I do wish all other humans could see the reasons they cause traffic to suck so much and stop doing it, but that is just not possible.

My main interest is to move the hell away from people.

 

There have been driverless cars here in Ohio for quite sometime now. Well, actually there is someone in the drivers seat, but they have their head so far up their ass that the vehicle is pretty much on it's own. It's the future, but I am one who also enjoys driving and having control. Probably the motorcyclist in me.

 

I wish that as well. The small city I live in is growing rapidly and it's becoming an issue. I'm in a line of traffic each morning because people direct traffic from behind the wheel instead of taking their right of way. Pretty sure the one car waiting to enter the road from a parking lot can wait for 8 cars to move along rather than holding traffic up so we all miss the green light.

 

All that good stuff. Then I'll come driving through on my motorcycle or lifted classic truck(tacoma) with no sensors. It would take 100 years or more to get EVERYONE on board with the driverless cars. They would have to make it illegal to drive your own car for it to work. It's a terrible idea and an infringement on our freedom.

 

Oh I completely agree. Similar thing to electric cars. Technologies like these trickling down to the lowest level of society will take decades. Although to argue myself, it could become where you don't own a car and pay for service to get to work.

I think the operational theory of improving traffic is sound. I would prefer freedom though instead.

 

I like to drive. Otherwise I’d feel like I’m on a bus in a Third World War torn country.