Google’s self-driving car caused its first crash

[DBMaster]

I'd rather just follow the progress with interest rather than play the role of naysayer. Pipe dream or not, it would be cool. That is all. I expend effort to continually keep my driving skills sharp, my car well maintained, and my attention on the road. Most do not seem to follow suit. They figure that they're already good enough. They're not.

That's all I'm going to say. I applaud those that are developing this technology.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp

If a deer runs out in the middle of the road, is this car going to choose to smash me into a deer, or fling me into a canal if it thinks it can't stop in time?


I've wondered about this too. Here's the thing: a squirrel, a dog, a deer, a person, a moose. Any of those step out in front of the car. What will it do? I know I would do different things colored by what is around me (open road? ditches on the side? heavy traffic?).

Edit: I'm not against this technology, if anything someday I might like to have it. I'd love to hop into my car for my commute, sit back and read the paper while going into work. Then have something much more manual for weekend driving. Once the price comes down, of course.

 

[DBMaster]

IDK. Any time this topic is raised the majority of posts are negative and pretty much attempt to list all the reasons the posters can come up with to illustrate why the self-driving vehicle "will never be practical." I guess if that's how you feel, express away. Just think about how much of the technology we take for granted today was once considered "magic and pipe dreams" in the not-so-distant past.

It never ceases to amaze me how many closed minded people there are these days. To make an omelette you gotta break some eggs. I personally like it when innovators take on these challenges.

 

[Vikas]

what is the status of the self driving in inclement weather e.g. at dusk, night, during the rain or snow etc? what percentage of the accumulated miles are under those conditions?

 

[Nate1979]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
IDK. Any time this topic is raised the majority of posts are negative and pretty much attempt to list all the reasons the posters can come up with to illustrate why the self-driving vehicle "will never be practical." I guess if that's how you feel, express away. Just think about how much of the technology we take for granted today was once considered "magic and pipe dreams" in the not-so-distant past.

It never ceases to amaze me how many closed minded people there are these days. To make an omelette you gotta break some eggs. I personally like it when innovators take on these challenges.


Yes, not a single point in this thread is not already discussed by the self driving car designers. Every one of these points will need to be addressed, they know this, they are working on it, etc. And yet the companies are still very confident we will start to see self driving cars in the next 5-10 years.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
IDK. Any time this topic is raised the majority of posts are negative and pretty much attempt to list all the reasons the posters can come up with to illustrate why the self-driving vehicle "will never be practical." I guess if that's how you feel, express away. Just think about how much of the technology we take for granted today was once considered "magic and pipe dreams" in the not-so-distant past.

It never ceases to amaze me how many closed minded people there are these days. To make an omelette you gotta break some eggs. I personally like it when innovators take on these challenges.


Yes, not a single point in this thread is not already discussed by the self driving car designers. Every one of these points will need to be addressed, they know this, they are working on it, etc. And yet the companies are still very confident we will start to see self driving cars in the next 5-10 years.


To be flip, they said the same thing about flying cars, nuclear power, you name it. Marketing being what it is, they *always* say it's going to be mature really soon.

That said, I don't doubt them. The luddite in me rejects the idea, but I think it's a good technology, and as computing ability increases at its relentless pace, it's only around the corner.

Short term, I wonder if they could allow self-driving in HOV lanes--as in, only allow operation there. The HOV lanes could migrate to bus and self-driving only (like how hybrids gained the right as single-occupant vehicles into the HOV lanes, everyone can get kicked out until they upgrade to self-driving). That could reduce risk while allowing the tech to grow. GPS tech could disable when the car leaves the HOV zone. Then with car-to-car communication these vehicles could also navigate that technology too.

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: supton
Short term, I wonder if they could allow self-driving in HOV lanes--as in, only allow operation there. The HOV lanes could migrate to bus and self-driving only (like how hybrids gained the right as single-occupant vehicles into the HOV lanes, everyone can get kicked out until they upgrade to self-driving). That could reduce risk while allowing the tech to grow. GPS tech could disable when the car leaves the HOV zone. Then with car-to-car communication these vehicles could also navigate that technology too.


I like this idea. It's a more realistic step, I think, than what I was thinking about - self driving highways. I think we could start with the high speed thoroughfares and leave the surface streets for later. It's the highways where I see the most brainless behaviors, anyway. Traffic could move a lot more smoothly by taking the "bozo" out of highway driving.

 

[jeepman3071]

I think actual self-driving cars are a long way off. One of the main reasons for that is like the accident we see here, judgement. Computers cannot make decisions based on judgement like a person can. The issue is that even if self-driving cars become a reality, they will have to share the road with some human operated vehicles. Human drivers as we know are prone to last second decisions, strange driving habits, etc. which could easily throw off the computer's decisions. While the bus driver didn't yield to the car, it could still be argued that the car didn't try to prevent the accident. This is what insurance companies call "last possible avoidance". I've seen cases where drivers who were hit were given some part of the blame because they did nothing to avoid the accident. It isn't really fair, but it happens more often than you would think.

Example: Say the self-driving car is programmed to avoid collisions either by stopping or detecting an object nearby and moving away from it.

A deer runs out at the last second in front of the car. The computer knows it is unable to brake in time without hitting the deer, so it swerves to avoid it. This causes an oncoming driver to strike the self-driving car as it goes around the deer. Normally in this situation, the driver avoiding the deer would be at fault since they crossed over the line, but what about the case of the self-driving car?

If a self-driving car has a glitch (like any electronic), or is considered at fault for an accident, who takes the blame? The person in the vehicle has no control, so they can't be held accountable like a normal insurance situation. Would insurance companies insure self-driving cars? Who would pay for damages? The insurance company or the maker of the product that suffered a glitch?

Would self-driving cars need constant software updates depending on their changing surroundings and how they are supposed to adapt to driving conditions?

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster

I like this idea. It's a more realistic step, I think, than what I was thinking about - self driving highways. I think we could start with the high speed thoroughfares and leave the surface streets for later. It's the highways where I see the most brainless behaviors, anyway. Traffic could move a lot more smoothly by taking the "bozo" out of highway driving.


We already have a highway self-driving feature. It's called cruise control. It ruins it in any sort of slight congestion. Trucks take the right lane, cruise controllers take the middle lane and won't move over. I pace off their bumpers hoping they'll get the hint and they stare back, like, "duh, left lane's open, take it." Would the google cars leap frog the trucks between middle and right lanes and drive exactly the speed limit? Would they punch the gas and speed for five seconds to pass an 18 wheeler without taking forever and hanging off his dangerous blindside?

On the flipside it'd be neat if the HOV lane could legally go 10 over the limit with the cars in a tango line with "network braking" to keep from rear ending each other. That'd ease congestion and help with gas mileage from the drafting of the car close in front.

 

[finmile]

Here’s a video of the crash.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/9/11186072/google-self-driving-car-bus-crash-video

 

[DoubleWasp]

Very human error for a computer.

 

[finmile]

Indeed, a rookie mistake. Back to diving school!

Self driving cars could be good solutions for senior citizens who are not capable to drive anymore.

https://www.theoldish.com/are-smart-cars-the-future-for-senior-independence/