Google Self-Driving Car: A First Drive

Spazturtle said:
I don't really care if people like driving, that's not a good excuse to be able to kill whole family's and large groups of people.
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notsureifserious.jpg
 
So, it is going to go from: No one knows how to drive a standard anymore to no one knows how to drive at all anymore? What happens if it misunderstands where you want to go?
 
Is there a video of these things in real world traffic (cars, peds, bikes, squirrels) and not a parking lot or empty streets?
 
Just like the issue with oil companies not liking the electric car. The same will be said about this self driving car and the Government/ Insurance Companies. If people don't have to drive their own car their wont be accidents. Meaning Insurance companies will loose profit and maybe even make Insurance invalid in the future (that is not good for the economy and jobs). On the other end State and Federal Governments will also loose a huge chunk of revenue, because self driving cars don't speed or once again cause accidents, Drinking and driving will be a thing of the past because all you would need to do if you were drunk is just get to your car. there is going to be a lot of push back on this car.

Is it cool yes, will it solve a lot of public issues yes, but the people running the country will not be thrilled with this and may not let it happen.
 
Spazturtle said:
I don't really care if people like driving, that's not a good excuse to be able to kill whole family's and large groups of people.
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Flawed logic is flawed.

I wouldn't mind a self-driving car assuming I can afford to have another "traditional" vehicle as well. Same goes for an electric car. A self-driving electric car as the DD and a sports car for a weekend-er would be awesome in my opinion.
 
Something tells me that this car will be out of the price range reach for many average consumers.
 
Stiletto said:
I thought the main joy of driving was...well...driving.
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I hate driving for the most part. City driving sucks, nerve-wracking with all those cars. Long stretches of highway is boring.

The only places I find it enjoyable around here are windy mountain roads where if I make a mistake I fall to my death.

I would enjoy a self-driving car... I do not doubt that they can make these safer. They might even reduce city driving times and increase efficiency immensely.
 
I don't see manual cars being fully replaced in most of our lifetimes. Even if 20 years from now they pass a law banning all manual cars from public roads, you would still have the opportunity to go drive on private roads/courses. In fact, I'm sure an entire industry would pop up to cater to that, much like you have tracks for sports cars today. A better analogy might be with horseback riding, it used to be the only way to get around, and while it has been replaced as a primary means of transportation, you can still find places to go do it for fun if you are so inclined.

I love driving, and will continue to do it as long as I can. However, sitting in rush hour traffic is not driving to me. I would much rather have a automatic car that could get me from home to work and back again, and during that time I would be free to take a nap, read a book, watch a movie or anything else I would like. I also see the benefit for the people who are currently unable to drive (which this video seemed to be about), and as result either have to rely on someone else to drive them around or use public transportation which is very lacking in most of the country. I know I would love the freedom that an automatic car would provide me if I ever lost the ability to drive safely.
 
Wouldn't this be more of a "first ride" rather than a "first drive" :p

I kind of like driving, and like being in control, but if the laws changed to permit it, I'd totally enjoy one of these so I could sleep or go out to the bars without worrying.
 
Haserath said:
I hate driving for the most part. City driving sucks, nerve-wracking with all those cars. Long stretches of highway is boring.

The only places I find it enjoyable around here are windy mountain roads where if I make a mistake I fall to my death.

I would enjoy a self-driving car... I do not doubt that they can make these safer. They might even reduce city driving times and increase efficiency immensely.
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I agree with you completely on all points. I think the increase in overall safety is the biggest benefit. Accidents would be reduced immensely when you remove the human element. When we get to the point of fully autonomous roads, traffic congestion will definitely be reduced. People have a hard time maintaining steady speeds and distances which leads to the accordion affect.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Suugn-p5C1M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Further improvements with traffic and road congestion would be possibly be having the cars talk to each other and the roads themselves providing real-time feedback of traffic conditions as well as timing traffic lights better. For example, a car approaching a traffic light is provided feedback that the light is going to change to green in 3 seconds and there are no approaching cars that might run a red light, so the car slows down just enough, to enter the intersection as the light changes to green. Cars could also travel closer together, drafting off one another, increasing fuel economy, and traffic lights could change as a large pack approaches to impact the least amount of cars at any given time.
 
Kidnappers dream...

Hack a car and send it to a different destination. Or even easier. Just get a few cars to surround the auto driving car and guide it to where you want it to go.

I wonder if law enforcement will have the ability to redirect a car in order to be able to arrest a person in the car.

Also, what happens when you have a psycho out there with a gun or other weapon? No way to manually drive the car to avoid being attacked?

What happens if somebody uses a jammer on a slew of auto driving cars? I am guessing they would either crash or cause a crash.

An auto driving car may have it's advantages.. but it for sure would open up a lot of other issues as well as never be able to avoid stuff near as well as a human driver that actually is a good driver.
 
I think auto-piloting cars should only be legal when it is easy to manually override them. I feel it's a major safety issue and Google should get fines so steep that they would go out of business for using such a car on the road for even a month.
 
dandragonrage said:
I think auto-piloting cars should only be legal when it is easy to manually override them. I feel it's a major safety issue and Google should get fines so steep that they would go out of business for using such a car on the road for even a month.
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The cars that google is currently testing on public roads have giant emergency stop buttons that disable the automatic control, and return control to the driver. The cars are completely normal on the inside with all of your normal controls, with the only change being the large red panic button.
 
Syco said:
The cars that google is currently testing on public roads have giant emergency stop buttons that disable the automatic control, and return control to the driver. The cars are completely normal on the inside with all of your normal controls, with the only change being the large red panic button.
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http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2458612,00.asp

Google's Self-Driving Car Prototype Ditches the Steering Wheel

"The small, Volkswagen Bug-esque vehicle does not have a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, or brake pedal, "because they don't need them," Google said in a blog post. Just get in, and Google's car will take you to your destination with the push of a button."

Yes, Google, cars do need those things. And you should be in tons of legal trouble for thinking otherwise, should you go forward with this idea.
 
Spazturtle said:
I don't really care if people like driving, that's not a good excuse to be able to kill whole family's and large groups of people.
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So when this system fails (and it will, like all electronics, something goes wrong at some point), you will complain that the driver should have had control of the car, when the system faulted?

I'll stick to good old fashioned Mk1 driver, I'm not putting my life, or anyone elses in the hands of an AI, that has so much potential to have a mechanical/electrical failure.
 
Stiletto said:
I thought the main joy of driving was...well...driving.
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The whole point of driving is to get from point A to B, enjoying it is not a requirement, some do, some don't.

This could potentially be a useful thing for some elderly or blind folks etc, I can imagine it'd make the lives of some easier in some way.
 
cyclone3d said:
Kidnappers dream...

Hack a car and send it to a different destination. Or even easier. Just get a few cars to surround the auto driving car and guide it to where you want it to go.

I wonder if law enforcement will have the ability to redirect a car in order to be able to arrest a person in the car.

Also, what happens when you have a psycho out there with a gun or other weapon? No way to manually drive the car to avoid being attacked?

What happens if somebody uses a jammer on a slew of auto driving cars? I am guessing they would either crash or cause a crash.

An auto driving car may have it's advantages.. but it for sure would open up a lot of other issues as well as never be able to avoid stuff near as well as a human driver that actually is a good driver.
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A lot of these points are valid, however in my opinion no reason to prevent them from existing as the safety benefits alone far outweigh the potential of abuse. The cars do not interface with anything remotely, which negates the ability to hack them remotely. I'm sure you could find ways to mess with the sensors readings, but you could just as easily do that to someone driving a car as well (laser pointer to the eyes, flashing their eyes with a mirror, etc.) You could also box someone in currently as well to force them to stop or redirect them, but how often do you hear that happening?

Law enforcement would need a warrant and likely a new set of laws created. Also how would they know who was in the car? Are you assuming the car checks your information before driving or reports who is in the car to the authorities? If the cops just watched you rob a bank and you hop in an automatic car, first, bad idea on your part, second, they should be able to stop you, and third, don't rob the bank.

I don't hear of psychos with weapons trying to stop or attack cards too often, but I'm sure you could have an emergency button/protocol. The one downside is that if someone tried to carjack me, i could speed away, and even run them over if they were in my way. The automatic car would just try to drive away at a safe speed and would likely stop before hitting the person. But how big of a threat is this really?

I'm sure somebody would come up with a way to mess with the cars sensors/jam them, but I'm sure the car would be equipped to handle that and treat it as a failure of it's sensors at which point it would use it's last known information to slow down the car and stop in as quick and safe a manner as possible. Again, how common would this threat be?
 
Haserath said:
I hate driving for the most part. City driving sucks, nerve-wracking with all those cars.
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This I'll agree with. I now live 5 minutes from my workplace and could not be happier that I don't have to deal with driving through town.

Long stretches of highway is boring.
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This I disagree with. I love long drives. So relaxing. Even in my old shitbox Sidekicks I enjoyed driving in the country or on the freeway. That open stretch...the sensation of being free to go anywhere. Few things like it.
 
Wierdo said:
This could potentially be a useful thing for some elderly or blind folks etc, I can imagine it'd make the lives of some easier in some way.
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To be fair, I've been saying for a while that if I could get elected to political office, my first goal would be taking driver's licenses away from 2/3 of people in this country. Old people...other demographics it would be politically incorrect to mention...and most of all, people on their fucking cell phones. A driver on a cell phone is more dangerous than any drunk driver, without question.

So, if they all want to use those, awesome. Let's just avoid banning everyone from driving because of the dipshits.
 
dandragonrage said:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2458612,00.asp

Google's Self-Driving Car Prototype Ditches the Steering Wheel

"The small, Volkswagen Bug-esque vehicle does not have a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, or brake pedal, "because they don't need them," Google said in a blog post. Just get in, and Google's car will take you to your destination with the push of a button."

Yes, Google, cars do need those things. And you should be in tons of legal trouble for thinking otherwise, should you go forward with this idea.
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So I guess you didn't read the whole article.

"Google plans to build about 100 prototypes, and this summer, it will test early versions of these cars that have manual controls"

"Earlier this month, the California Department of Motor Vehicles approved new rules for autonomous vehicle testing in the state. Come Sept. 16, companies will be able to start testing self-driving vehicles on the open road, provided they have a trained driver behind the wheel, ready to take over in the event of a malfunction, and at least $5 million worth of liability insurance"

Yes, the eventual goal is to have a car without any user interface devices, that is not what is currently being used or tested on public roads. We are a long ways off before the technology is fully developed and has the safety track record to allow a car without the ability to be taken over manually. Public perception and establishing a track record, will be a big part of getting the laws written to allow an autonomous car without the ability for manual control. Once autonomous cars are brought to market, it will likely be several years, and several models later before there are any without the option of manual control.
 
Wierdo said:
The whole point of driving is to get from point A to B, enjoying it is not a requirement, some do, some don't.

This could potentially be a useful thing for some elderly or blind folks etc, I can imagine it'd make the lives of some easier in some way.
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Main joy of driving. In other words, driving is more enjoyable than sitting down doing nothing.
 
Syco said:
So I guess you didn't read the whole article.

"Google plans to build about 100 prototypes, and this summer, it will test early versions of these cars that have manual controls"
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So because they're building some prototypes that aren't the final product the article describes, you are calling my understanding out? Seriously? Formulate a new argument and please try again.
 
dandragonrage said:
So because they're building some prototypes that aren't the final product the article describes, you are calling my understanding out? Seriously? Formulate a new argument and please try again.
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You do realize he was talking about current cars, and you're talking about Google's eventual vision, right? I seriously doubt Google is going to put control-less cars on roads anytime within the next 10 years.

When the technology is proven, I can easily see a roadway full of cars without manual controls.
 
dandragonrage said:
I think auto-piloting cars should only be legal when it is easy to manually override them. I feel it's a major safety issue and Google should get fines so steep that they would go out of business for using such a car on the road for even a month.
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I feel human driven cars pose such a safety issue that auto manufacturers should get fines so steep that they would go out of business for using such a car on the road for even a month.
 
Just imagining the efficiency in time and energy as it's traffic aware and will route load balance.
 
McFry said:
I feel human driven cars pose such a safety issue that auto manufacturers should get fines so steep that they would go out of business for using such a car on the road for even a month.
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Of course you do.
 
Syco said:
A lot of these points are valid, however in my opinion no reason to prevent them from existing as the safety benefits alone far outweigh the potential of abuse. The cars do not interface with anything remotely, which negates the ability to hack them remotely. I'm sure you could find ways to mess with the sensors readings, but you could just as easily do that to someone driving a car as well (laser pointer to the eyes, flashing their eyes with a mirror, etc.) You could also box someone in currently as well to force them to stop or redirect them, but how often do you hear that happening?

Law enforcement would need a warrant and likely a new set of laws created. Also how would they know who was in the car? Are you assuming the car checks your information before driving or reports who is in the car to the authorities? If the cops just watched you rob a bank and you hop in an automatic car, first, bad idea on your part, second, they should be able to stop you, and third, don't rob the bank.

I don't hear of psychos with weapons trying to stop or attack cards too often, but I'm sure you could have an emergency button/protocol. The one downside is that if someone tried to carjack me, i could speed away, and even run them over if they were in my way. The automatic car would just try to drive away at a safe speed and would likely stop before hitting the person. But how big of a threat is this really?

I'm sure somebody would come up with a way to mess with the cars sensors/jam them, but I'm sure the car would be equipped to handle that and treat it as a failure of it's sensors at which point it would use it's last known information to slow down the car and stop in as quick and safe a manner as possible. Again, how common would this threat be?
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If the eventual version of these cars do not interface with anything remotely, then how would the car get valid routes in order to get to the destination in the most efficient manner?

Also, how would you deal with closed roads and accidents, etc. Does the car just stop indefinitely when it comes upon a closed road that is not in the onboard system? For any semblance of efficiency, the cars would have to connect to a remote system that is updated in real time. Even current GPSes do this.

Also, you should go to youtube and watch some videos. There are plenty on there of attackers going up to a car with people in it and bashing it with bats and other things and pulling the occupant(s) out and beating them.

Another thing.. what happens in an automated vehicle when a bad storm comes up when being ridden in? No way to avoid tornadoes or get out of a bad hail storm, etc? What about white-out conditions or dust storms? How would the vehicle know how close it is to other vehicles? Yes, this is a real concern, especially in some parts of the country.

For this whole thing to be feasible, there are going to have to be some pretty drastic changes to just about every part of the transportation system.
 
Governor Sandoval was one of the first members of the public to get a ride in one from Reno to Carson. He was telling the story at a Econ Development meeting about how he almost had a heart attack coming over the hill into carson at 70mph. Any body that knows that stretch of road knows why this would be terrifying.
 
hmmm, what if this were applied to trucks. Auto delivery trucks that can navigate into the proper truck bay. And when driving down free ways they wouldn't be 3 abreast blocking traffic.
 
Darunion said:
hmmm, what if this were applied to trucks. Auto delivery trucks that can navigate into the proper truck bay. And when driving down free ways they wouldn't be 3 abreast blocking traffic.
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But shipments would take a lot longer as the automated trucks wouldn't be going 20-30mph over the speed limit for the majority of the trip.
 
i wouldn't mind owning a self-driving car so long as i have the option of driving it myself when i want to

i like driving, but i don't always enjoy it (eg: rush hour crawls... would be nice for a computer to do the driving in that case, while i take a nap or read the paper...)
 
Outamyhead said:
So when this system fails (and it will, like all electronics, something goes wrong at some point), you will complain that the driver should have had control of the car, when the system faulted?
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The argument here would probably be, that sure, the system may fault, but overall it is more reliable than a feeble minded, distractable human being and as such overall will save tons of lives.

The problem with things like this always comes back to the fact that people are very over-optimistic about their own driving abilities. So instead of "is this thing as good at driving as me" consider it from the other perspective. Assume you are driving a traditional car, would you rather share the road with self driving cars or "other drivers".

I tend to think that I would have more faith in self driving cars than other drivers.
 
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