Autonomous car threat

[pencero]

I think the sad thing is that I fully believe I would have easily won this argument 5 years ago and I only started it just to prove to myself that I no longer could. I never expected to win the argument I started folks. I just wanted you to look in the mirror so when your car doesn't work don't blame the 'cloud cover', blame yourself. You have become nothing but a repeater of concepts you were bombarded with online and tv. You have people too blind to admit what is before their very eyes. You would trust artificial intelligence to drive you around over real intelligence. I am not going to criticize that beyond saying that I think it is sad. I didn't even spend 5 minutes looking for any of this source material. I am not incapable of putting together real journalism with better sources of information and being a more accurate reporter. You aren't worth it. You don't want to hear this information because you are comfortable in your house shoes. With people like you in society, our g-bodies are tomorrow's horses: future track toys strictly regulated to only be driven on private property. Maybe if you are lucky, they will give us Sundays too, since they 'care' about us so much. That's why they want us to be able to have extra time to get sex and brushing our teeth out of the way on the way to work. So we can have extra time to look at our smart phones... come on guys. You really are hopeless.

 

[pencero]

http://www.cavcoe.com/What we do.htm

 

[pencero]

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/5...ar--future-for-driverless-cars-165852470.html

Supposing Barrie Kirk gets it wrong and there is no driverless car future, he could certainly have a career in narrating BBC documentaries.

The ‎Executive Director of the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence (CAVCOE) – a think tank launched last year to study the impact of driverless – has an Attenborough-esque cadence when he speaks, describing the different evolutionary paths of AVs, as he calls them, like he’s reading the pages of Darwin’s journals.

He’s precise, surrounding every lofty statement with references to the studies to underwrite his predictions. For Kirk, it’s not a question of how, let alone when – he’s already started to calculate the aftermath of a world built around automated vehicles.

“The first generation is here now,” says Kirk. “If you buy a Mercedes S Class – they have an early version of automated technology that will keep you in the right lane and use intelligent cruise control to keep you a certain distance from the car in front, braking if you get too close.”

He also points to the Suncor’s fully automated trucks the company uses in the oil sands. Sure, it’s private property so the risks may be a little bit lower, but his point is valid – driverless vehicles have seen no shortage of headlines from automated features creeping into 2015 models to slow moving electric vehicles like Google has been testing out.

We sat down with Kirk to discuss the creepiness of driverless vehicles, who will pick up the insurance tab if there’s an accident with no driver and the unintended side effects on organ donations.

I’ve got to be honest Barrie, it almost creeps me out a bit – the notion of driverless vehicles lurking around, waiting to give me a ride. I suspect it’d take some time for people to get used to these vehicles being there even at slow-ish speeds like 25 KM.

It’s a lot easier to design a vehicle to be autonomous on private property because you don’t have the wide range of obstacles that you have on city streets but the technology is working very well. A computer is a better driver than a person and Suncor has noticed a reduction in engine and tire wear as well as fuel economy, plus you’ve got the labour saving costs.

Who’s next to adopt after industry does?

The early adopters are going to be the young, the old and the disabled. In my generation, getting your driver’s license was a right of passage but nowadays young people are a very different demographic they’ve far less interest in driver’s licenses and far less interest in owning a car.

At the other end of the range people that aren’t comfortable driving anymore or cannot drive or are disabled – they’ll find these very useful.

So you really feel this is inevitable, this is the direction we're going?

Oh absolutely, I’ve had arguments with people and debates about exactly when, but it is coming. Google has spent tens maybe hundreds of millions of dollars on developing this and most of the mainstream car companies in the world are developing these. The technology is improving monthly. It is coming and it’s going to change our world completely.

Will Google be first at this?

It’s a different market. They will likely be first with these two seat automated taxis but they're not the only player. There’s a trial being done in the U.K. in 2015 in the city of Milton Keynes funded by the UK government to have AV taxis in the town centre. Milton Keynes will take delivery of its first one at the end of this year and they’ll be a proof of concept trial in 2015 ramping up to a hundred of these by 2017.

But when you’re talking about young people being the first adopters, especially in urban centers, I can’t help but feel a bit like you’re forgetting these are the same millennials who preach the sustainability movement and have built their culture around car sharing, cycle culture and better transit. It seems like a bit much to add driverless cars to the mix, is there a point in having both?

I think there are a lot of synergies – I think they reinforce each other. Most of us do our driving in urban areas so electric vehicles would work very well. If you’ve got charging stations that are solar powered and automated vehicles that are electric then you’ve got a very sustainable form of transportation.

But that requires investment in infrastructure. What about of supposedly cleaner fuel supplies like liquid propane vehicles, which dropped off in the 1990s, or liquid natural gas which has failed to take off? Even charging stations seem to sit unused quite a bit.

It is a lot of investment, I agree. But the first commandment of AVs is thou shalt have no special infrastructure and the whole idea is to put as much intelligence into the vehicle as possible so that it can drive anywhere that a human can drive. The second commandment is there’s always ways you can optimize infrastructure for AVs.

How?

One example is roundabouts. Studies have shown that people are uncomfortable merging at roundabouts but AVs are a lot better. As they penetrate the market deeper, we can see a replacement of traffic signals. Parking spots too, one study in the States showed that there’s about seven parking spaces for every vehicle. It's overkill and huge amount of real estate.

What about insurance? Who picks up the tab in the event of an accident?

Well, nobody knows just yet. So much weight is put onto the driver’s records but with automated vehicles that becomes a non-issue. About 90 per cent of all traffic collisions are due in whole or in part to driver error. Let’s say we can save between 80 and 90 per cent of the traffic fatalities and collisions then the auto insurance industry will have lower payouts. There was an article by Lloyd’s of London and they speculate one model could be when you buy a new car it comes bundled with liability insurance for life. It’s no longer an individual insurance it’s more of a commercial insurance.

What about automakers? No more of those oh-so-inspirational car commercials.

It'll be a huge difference. I think the car companies are aware of this and wish it wasn’t the way of the future but it is. It’ll also affect taxi drivers, transit and in the future, delivery vehicles. There’s already a group in the States lobbying for an automated truck corridor between Western Canada and Mexico.

It’d wipe out entire industries and probably eliminate a lot of jobs. Seems to me like there are a lot of unintended consequences of this driverless car utopia.

Without getting too gruesome here, one repercussion is health care. For young people between the ages of 18 and 30, car collisions are a major cause of death. If a young person who is otherwise healthy gets suddenly killed that’s an important source of organ and tissue donations. One person like that can benefit up to 50 living people with their eyes, hearts, kidney, skin tissue and so on and so on. So if you have a lot fewer young people dying – let’s say we can cut the death toll by 80 per cent – you’re going to have a lot fewer organs and tissues available for donations to help the living. The health care industry hasn’t started to think about that. But they’ve still got time. I can see highway capable fully autonomous vehicles in about 2017 or 2018. Some of the main car companies will be a bit slower than that but once we get to 2020 that to me is the tipping point.

... if cars can drive themselves why would 'they' need 'you' anymore.

 

[pencero]

Okay if I lack facts it's because I'm a 28 year old dude on a car forum and that's all I really am. I merely came to point out a lack of accountability in the point of view most people have on this topic. http://www.cavcoe.com/Articles.htm the facts are posted in plain sight if people want to do additional research for themselves. If an active conspiracy to remove your ability to travel didn't exist, think tanks wouldn't be spending millions of dollars on this technology. Whether or not they are directly financing which companies is an irrelevant technicality but they obviously favor google. I just stopped by to try and protect this hobby that's all. I have not dipped off into other conspiracy theories of any type that did not relate directly to driving out of respect for this site, and I did not get religious or anything like that. If you can't understand why it might be a conflict of your best interest for corporations to be vested in establishing this type of technology into society as a social norm in conjunction with the government as an overall poor concept for your future and the future of your children it is already too late. I suppose if the picture I posted of zuckerberg walking past the obliviated masses were a painting instead of a photo it would be more effective in conveying the point I was trying to make. It doesn't matter whether it's vr headsets, cars, hats, its the concept.

 

[565bbchevy]

Thank You for your input on this matter.
We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

I watched the video. And I believe that Google is more than likely correct. How many times have I reached for my phone to pick it up. Or to fire off a quick text. 11 of 14 accidents means that the fully autonomous car drives too well. Why would we sound an alarm for a safer ride? If giving up my passions for cars for this to take place absolutely, stop it immediately. That hasn't been the case. And what is it you want us to open our eyes up to? There hasn't been any solid facts posted. No names. A post about the fear of people having sex because they don't actually have to drive is the only bit against this. And truthfully, it makes a one night stand so much easier.

The more simple thing to do is not text or use the phone while driving, whatever it is will have to wait until you can pull over some place safe. Not just drivers either, lots of pedestrians are too busy staring at their phones to see where they are walking, some have been badly injured and killed by being distracted. What fix is there for that? Cut people's legs off and implant self walking cyborg legs? Everybody just use self driving wheelchairs? You just can't fix stupid, stupid people will always find ways to hurt and kill themselves and others, only thing you can do is not be stupid yourself and put the phone away when driving, walking, or anything other than sitting down.

 

[pencero]

I can't believe people would read these type of articles and think that arguments related to why they may or may not crash are more important than the concept that corporations and government can conspire to steer them from space in the future. The 'safety' of your liberties is more important than your body, are you blind?

 

[GP403]

Thank You for your input on this matter.
We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

x1 Agree

Look, this is great and all, but I'm afraid I have to make this call. It's been real. Don't stop looking over your shoulder. Just because you're not paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. I'll ask the pilot of the plane I'll be on if he'll show me the chemtrail button.