Google Cars Drive Themselves, in Traffic

[Urwumpe]

DUI makes one a threat to society, and a very likely serial killer.

A serial killer would require the motivation "Lets get badly drunk and then kill some human sheep".

Your polemics won't make the world a better place, but instead very likely a much worse place. Next you will find out that parents have most of the guilt if somebody is criminal, or rebelling against the state. So you conclude, that parenting under influence is bad and should get prevented by enforcing professional child care in Kindergarten. We had been that far often in history actually, and when the dust finally settled, we had been happy to have our irresponsible by lovely parents back again.

I am a friend of a very old and very effective means of educating adults. Educating children is not the problem, children learn much better and faster before they become 13 and forget the important stuff quickly under the influence of a strange kind of group pressure enforced on them by the same adults that complain later about the youth misbehaving. Like saying as minister president of Bavaria, that drinking two liters of beer is perfectly ok. (I don't know how you feel about it, but I get already a Gimbal lock after drinking half that much in a short evening)

DUI is not the problem, it is the symptom of a chronically irresponsible society. And what do you now suggest as solution? Make them even less responsible.

Next, you will need to deal with those, who walk badly drunk into the way of a autonomous car full of more drunken people, who also had not been properly seatbelted. How solve this? Enforcing seat belts is not idiot proof, people just close the lock and sit on the seat belts, cheating the sensors. Happened in my hometown. The 10 hour old brand new car ended in the evening spread evenly over 50m distance in the middle of the town only 100m away from the municipal hospital. Only the driver survived, the other four people died instantly. Nobody was driving under influence, they had just been collectively stupid. Driving with 140+ km/h in the middle of a city, overtaking a slower car by using the opposite lane of a pedestrian island and hitting the sidewalk, getting out of control and literally flying into a tree.

Autopilots won't prevent stupidity as well. They will actually just increase it. It is not like autopilots in aircraft removed pilot error. Or autopilots in aircraft are better than humans in extreme situations.

I can already predict you what will happen then: People will find ways to disable the autopilot, modify them, make the car generally faster, etc. In a P2P network, you will find the latest illegal flash memory image for your car.

Of course, you will then find new ways to deal with irresponsible people abusing their freedom, by taking their freedom away. Making them fully responsible for their actions, without any valid excuses, that would be a real master piece. Freedom is no disease that needs a cure, freedom is a natural force that is strong in any human, even if this freedom is just the desire to choose your favorite tyrant. If you fight against freedom, you can only loose. if the people are no longer busy with their irresponsible behavior, they will start to use their time for dealing with you.

 

[Wishbone]

By denying DUI offenders the right to drive any vehicle you just cut expected loss of human life, which I assume is the greatest value out there. An adult does not easily change habits, until it's too late (read - the body is on the pavement).

Back on topic, to make my point clear. I heartily agree with you that car autopilots are bad.

 

[Zachstar]

Driving is first and foremost a responsibility. It doesn't matter what you're driving - a car, a glider, a motor yacht, a space shuttle or a shiny new Dreamliner. DUI makes one a threat to society, and a very likely serial killer. No society can hope to survive by tolerating serial killers - in my country the hope is almost extinguished, every now and then there is news of law enforcement, businessmen, govt officials or otherwise privileged folks crushing down innocent bystanders and getting away with bribes and influence.

I would not say Serial Killers. Just a very bad issue with society. This issue is in the USA idiots treating driving is "Mah right gawd darnet" *burp*

Driving on public funded roads is not a right. The laws are there no protect people yet DUI keeps going on and on and on.

Could they use unlawful software to make the car manual control? Sure, but I suspect police looking for quick ticket money are willing to look for the signs of manual driving in a vehicle authorized only for Auto.

In 20 years more than likely it is happening. People in society are already demanding tougher penalties for first DUI. Once the autocars become prevalent here you wont believe how much political pressure groups like MADD will put on congress.

 

[tl8]

err, What does DUI have to do with driver-less cars?

Also 'Autocars' in not really an accurate description. At least in Oz Auto refers to the gearbox.

 

[Urwumpe]

By denying DUI offenders the right to drive any vehicle you just cut expected loss of human life

You also have a statistical expected value of deaths caused by your driving if you are behaving perfectly. The absolute number of deaths in car accidents might appear high, but in reality and relative to the people traveling by car the number is pretty low. And dropping.

I am not fan of punishment before the crime. Even if you can "expect" it. Some people can also "disappoint" your "expectations" to the better.

Let me give you a very popular example how crime statistics can lead to wrong conclusions: The most famous criminologist and former minister of the interior got his doctor title for finding out, that if you cut class, you are statistically doing more crime. and concluded that cutting class leads to crime. Of course, he did not put his rather trivial conclusions in relation and check if people who cutting class are statistically just having more time to do something criminal in it.

 

[Zachstar]

err, What does DUI have to do with driver-less cars?

Also 'Autocars' in not really an accurate description. At least in Oz Auto refers to the gearbox.

Fine "Driverless Transportation"

DUI has everything to do with this. Would you rather trust your life to a Windows 95 computer or a drunk driver?

I would rather go with the 95

 

[jedidia]

DUI has everything to do with this. Would you rather trust your life to a Windows 95 computer or a drunk driver?

Since you're stating the version of the OS so explicitly, I'd rather walk in both cases :lol: (and probably get run over crossing the street by a car piloted by windows 95, because the driver was too drunk to drive by himself).

 

[T.Neo]

Driving on public funded roads is not a right.

Right. Obviously since it isn't my right to get around by driving on public funded roads, I should drive through people's back gardens and living rooms, to get where I need to go. :uhh:

 

[Krys]

I love the idea of this - it would stop tail backs due to someone switching lanes and someone doing an emergency stop for no reason. Something like that may only cause 1 minute of tail backs - but it happens every few minutes.....

I'd suggest automating the peak hours in cities and go to manual at other times. Hopefully this will prevent the worst road rage incidents and stupid traffic jams.

 

[T.Neo]

Hopefully this will prevent the worst road rage incidents and stupid traffic jams.

I don't think automation will reduce rage much- I often get angry with my computer.

Not that an irate driver is an ideal driver, but I think the feeling, or concept, of being out of control, could anger people in and of itself.

 

[Urwumpe]

Driving on public funded roads is not a right. The laws are there no protect people yet DUI keeps going on and on and on.

Wrong, I paid for them, I can use them. They are common public infrastructure, with the use of the resource managed by laws, since there is more than just one tax payer. You have a right to use it, but you have no right to abuse it. For example also use so much road that others are limited in their right to drive there as well.

Some styles of driving or letting my son drive around, should really be done on private ground, and guess what: On private ground and private roads, the normal traffic laws do not apply by default. If you can afford your own highway with speed limit Mach 3, feel free to do it.

 

[Krys]

That would be fun doing MAch 3 on a road.........

Back on topic though - how long would it be before they get it to the 'demolition man' level?

 

[Urwumpe]

Back on topic though - how long would it be before they get it to the 'demolition man' level?

Practically only seconds. What prevents it is a constant struggle between freedom and security. In demolition man, people gave up freedom for security, only to loose both... well, it is not unpredicted.