Mary Barra takes first ride in driverless car.

[JohnnyG]

GM's Mary Barra: First Ride In Driverless Car Beyond Incredible

EVs are the future, and it seems folks are getting on board. However, autonomy is arguably a bigger problem to solve, and it's not just Tesla doing the solving.

insideevs.com

Just in case nobody has seen this one.
Meanwhile Elon just promised FSD for next year, for the 9th year in a row.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Mary is a cutie!

 

[BISCUT]

Something to take into account; GM is heavily run by US government since the 2008 bailout. Research the payments made over time and you will see US Govt is 51% or so owner. Elon is on his own!

I do not have a Tesla and don't want one either. And I get Elon is a little out there...but I respect his moxie, probably the softest way to state it. Love or hate him, this man has done a lot up against political giants.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Allowing a car to drive without someone in the driver's seat and in control is insanity.

 

[fsdork]

Allowing a car to drive without someone in the driver's seat and in control is insanity.

Is it really better to have certain humans behind the wheel? It would be interesting to see some data showing at which percentile of the population the person actually makes the situation worse. It might give us the warm and fuzzies to have a person to blame if things go bad, but we're going to have to let go of that at some point. That's not to say today is the day for it, but it will come.

 

[samven]

You have to wonder how excited GM would be if the CEO,CFO and other officers would be held personally responsible for accidents just as if they were driving. We have let corporations get away with killing people through neglect and the only ones to pay are share holders.

 

[fisher83]

Driverless is quite a step up from having to push the car like I had to do with my first Chevy! 😆

 

[Zee09]

Mary is a cutie!

Would you stop.Horn dog...🐶

 

[JeffKeryk]

Is it really better to have certain humans behind the wheel? It would be interesting to see some data showing at which percentile of the population the person actually makes the situation worse. It might give us the warm and fuzzies to have a person to blame if things go bad, but we're going to have to let go of that at some point. That's not to say today is the day for it, but it will come.

Human error is at least partly responsible for like 98% of every automobile accident. That is a pretty low bar to beat.
But to drive any of today's "autonomous" vehicles without someone in the driver's seat ready to take over is insanity.

This was nothing more than a Mary Barra publicity stunt, trying to be like Tesla.
I give her credit for acknowledging autonomous driving, but it should be on a private track like other companies do.
How many other idiots will be emboldened to do this on public roads?
This is just as bad as the GM truck commercial that played during last weekend's football playoffs.

 

[Shel_B]

Allowing a car to drive without someone in the driver's seat and in control is insanity.

In another video, it was noted that there are/were people in remote locations overseeing the operation of the self-driving cars.

 

[zzyzzx]

The only real purpose for self driving vehicles is to get you home from the bar.

 

[duck__dodgers]

A Tesla going 60 mph in the far left lane brake checked by brother. (flow of traffic 70+) He was close but not annoyingly close.

I told him that Teslas, especially on autopilot, have conservative parameters for braking distance. And that Tesla was acting like it's on autopilot.

Brother passes cars gets in front of Tesla, then slams on the brake for a moment....Tesla's brakes light up. Tesla fades away in the rear mirror.

I did not approve. But did lol.

 

[JeffKeryk]

A Tesla going 60 mph in the far left lane brake checked by brother. (flow of traffic 70+) He was close but not annoyingly close.

I told him that Teslas, especially on autopilot, have conservative parameters for braking distance. And that Tesla was acting like it's on autopilot.

Brother passes cars gets in front of Tesla, then slams on the brake for a moment....Tesla's brakes light up. Tesla fades away in the rear mirror.

I did not approve. But did lol.

Following distance is programmable. Sorry, but your brother sounds like an .... He is a key reason we need driverless cars.
Driving is serious business, not a joke. I guess it was a good test of the AP, but just the same...

 

[JeffKeryk]

In another video, it was noted that there are/were people in remote locations overseeing the operation of the self-driving cars.

So the car is not driving itself? If so, CEO Barra is lying through her teeth, sorry to say.

 

[K.Aoi]

So the car is not driving itself? If so, CEO Barra is lying through her teeth, sorry to say.

They're overseeing it in the same way a human sitting in the driver seat but not operating it actively would be. The computer is still doing the driving, the human is to intervene in case something goes horribly wrong

 

[aquariuscsm]

They're overseeing it in the same way a human sitting in the driver seat but not operating it actively would be. The computer is still doing the driving, the human is to intervene in case something goes horribly wrong

Is it like a call center, a building full of cubicles with staff overseeing the cars?

 

[K.Aoi]

Is it like a call center, a building full of cubicles with staff overseeing the cars?

Possibly if on a large scale. This seems more likely to be small scale so just a handful of people.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Were those old time cable car trolley things driverless?

 

[K.Aoi]

Were those old time cable car trolley things driverless?

No, those things required a skilled operator, called a gripman. They were tough to operate.

How cable cars work

San Francisco Market Street Railway | We keep San Francisco's Vintage Streetcars on Track

www.streetcar.org

Also, a train that is driverless and fully automated is usually referred to as a "people mover", they are extremely common at airports.

People mover - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[JeffKeryk]

They're overseeing it in the same way a human sitting in the driver seat but not operating it actively would be. The computer is still doing the driving, the human is to intervene in case something goes horribly wrong

That's ridiculous. Dangerous. Stupid dangerous.
How can a remote operator see what is going on and react quickly? Put someone in the driver seat with their hands on the steering wheel.
Again, this is a stupid, irresponsible, dangerous publicity stunt.