sportsforall wrote:
I am massively excited about autonomous vehicles. It will however have a huge impact on our society. There will no longer be a requirement to own cars since they should be running all of the time and that is a big shift, car ownership is so often tied up in ego.
It will reduce traffic on the roads, but what impact on mass transport?
It will improve safety (when it is working fully), will children be able to travel in their own vehicles? Will drink / driving no longer be a thing?
Energy consumption is one of the biggest challenges to overcome, peak consumption when they are charging might mean we have to consider our overall energy usage. It may mean traditional working arrangements change.
It is so much more than it first seems and whilst I am not sure it will have a major impact on my generation it will definitely change the lives completely of my grandchildren.
Whilst I understand the POV, it is coming and just like the automobile at the dawn of the 20th century it is another step change in our society.
I'd appreciate it if you would unpack all the plus points a bit more -- it's hard to grasp what is being aimed at and why it would be so much better without drivers in the future.
And can a mix of driverless cars and driver- operated cars work on our roads as we know them now? I would be very interested to see the real analysis of what happened in the Arizona accident for example --- supposedly she just leapt out immediately in front of the car and there was no evidence of braking at all either. But there was a driver. Something doesn't add up in the reporting but no hope really of a layperson ever seeing the real detail.