Uber's Self-Driving Cars Off To A Rough Start

[HardOCP News]

I want to make fun of Uber for all this but, the truth is, isn't this exactly what they are supposed to be doing right now...working out the kinks? Now, when a driverless Uber injures or kills someone, let the finger pointing begin.

From a distance he couldn’t tell whether the car was driving itself, or its human operator had made a mistake. Stachelek took out his phone in time to shoot a brief video of Uber’s vehicle backing up and driving away, then uploaded it to Facebook. “Driverless car went down a one way the wrong way,” he wrote. “Driver had to turn car around.”

 

[DrLobotomy]

If it isn't on a rail then I am probably not going to trust AI.

 

[Twisted Kidney]

One day self driving cars will be common, possibly even mandatory. It will be interesting to see what happens with liability and the effect on insurance revenues this will all have.

 

[mjcutri]

While I understand Uber's decision to test their vehicles in Pittsburgh due to the presence of Carnegie Mellon, etc., Pittsburgh is a notoriously difficult city to navigate, even for natives. "You can't get there from here" is a common phrase.

 

[thejokker]

One day self driving cars will be common, possibly even mandatory. It will be interesting to see what happens with liability and the effect on insurance revenues this will all have.

I don't think so. They will be rejected like Google glasses. If you are independent, self-reliant and individualistic than the thought of self-driving cars (particularly if mandatory) is an assault on personal freedom.

 

[M76]

I don't think so. They will be rejected like Google glasses. If you are independent, self-reliant and individualistic than the thought of self-driving cars (particularly if mandatory) is an assault on personal freedom.

Yes and self reliant individualistic people don't use coffee makers either, they brew their coffee on a camp-fire in a pot in the garden, because an automatic coffee machine is an assault on their personal freedom.

The assault on personal freedom is when you're sitting in traffic, and move 10 feet at a time, while 100% of your attention is occupied with executing that task, and avoiding idiots juggling lanes. I couldn't imagine a poorer usage of my time.

It will be a great day when self driving cars reach a significant enough penetration that traffic jams will no longer be a thing on a highway.

 

[drescherjm]

Pittsburgh is a notoriously difficult city to navigate, even for natives. "You can't get there from here"

LOL! As a native I fully agree with that.

 

[thejokker]

Yes and self reliant individualistic people don't use coffee makers either, they brew their coffee on a camp-fire in a pot in the garden, because an automatic coffee machine is an assault on their personal freedom.

The assault on personal freedom is when you're sitting in traffic, and move 10 feet at a time, while 100% of your attention is occupied with executing that task, and avoiding idiots juggling lanes. I couldn't imagine a poorer usage of my time.

It will be a great day when self driving cars reach a significant enough penetration that traffic jams will no longer be a thing on a highway.

Illogical argument: misuse of analogy. Using a semi-automatic coffee maker is nothing like abandoning a vehicle that you control for a vehicle that you are a passive participate.

Traffic jams are the result of a road holding more cars that it can manage. Increasing the average speed of a vehicle will decrease congestion while decreasing speed will increase congestion. Self-driving cars will be slower than a skilled driver therefore self-driving cars will increase congestion.

You are grossly over-simplifying a complex issue and imagining a unicorn and rainbow outcome without consideration for reality.

 

[britjh22]

While I understand Uber's decision to test their vehicles in Pittsburgh due to the presence of Carnegie Mellon, etc., Pittsburgh is a notoriously difficult city to navigate, even for natives. "You can't get there from here" is a common phrase.

As a native, if they can make them work here, they can make them work anywhere, it's basically stress testing. Also, the area I've seen them most often, around Penn and Highland, people drive like absolute dog shit, it's a great test to see if they work. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people going the wrong way on Station Street/N Euclid one way section.

Illogical argument: misuse of analogy. Using a semi-automatic coffee maker is nothing like abandoning a vehicle that you control for a vehicle that you are a passive participate.

Traffic jams are the result of a road holding more cars that it can manage. Increasing the average speed of a vehicle will decrease congestion while decreasing speed will increase congestion. Self-driving cars will be slower than a skilled driver therefore self-driving cars will increase congestion.

You are grossly over-simplifying a complex issue and imagining a unicorn and rainbow outcome without consideration for reality.

His analogy is badly worded, it would be an assault on freedom if you were legally barred from brewing coffee cowboy style.

However, I don't think fully realized self driving cars will increase congestion. I don't know why you would think self-driving cars will always be slower than a skilled driver, or why you would assume even half the idiots on the roads are "skilled drivers". It is a very complex issue, but saying that self driving cars will always be slower is like saying that manually accounting on pen and paper will never be replaced by computers because at one time they were less efficient.

As someone who enjoys driving, I look forward to self driving cars as not all driving is engaging, and most people on the roads can't be bothered to drive worth a damn. I also hope that driving yourself isn't outlawed or made impossible due to too high insurance rates.

 

[M76]

Illogical argument: misuse of analogy. Using a semi-automatic coffee maker is nothing like abandoning a vehicle that you control for a vehicle that you are a passive participate.

I don't understand the argument does not equal illogical argument. Abandoning the process of brewing and grinding the coffee beans and being a passive observer as the machine brews the coffee from a bag is very similar to abandoning the menial process of pressing on the accelerator and then the brake while maintaining a rough trajectory with a wheel. Nobody wants to take away your ability to drive. As nobody is forcing you to brew coffee in a machine, it's just more convenient, and most people are not interested in the process of coffee making. They just want a coffee. So they chose the machine instead of the manual process. Hence the analogy that most people are not interested in driving they just want to get from point a to point b. So they don't want to drive, they don't enjoy driving, therefore they'll use automated driving when available. Provided fear-mongering know-it-alls don't scare them away with their FUD Which in this case stands for both fear/uncertainty/doubt AND fucking disinformation.
You want to drive, that's fine, you will be able to drive regardless of automated cars. But you'll be in the minority. Just as the people are who still brew their coffee the old fashioned way.

Traffic jams are the result of a road holding more cars that it can manage. Increasing the average speed of a vehicle will decrease congestion while decreasing speed will increase congestion. Self-driving cars will be slower than a skilled driver therefore self-driving cars will increase congestion.

In cities where traffic lights are present yes in some cases it is because there are more cars on the road than the capacity of the road. But with self driving cars the same road can let trough more cars compared to human drivers, because self driving cars react immediately to the light turning green, and the whole column of cars can start moving together. Instead of Henry and Joe starting to look for drive when the car in front of them already started moving. Plus when they're moving they can move in unison slowing down and speeding up together as necessary.

You don't seem to be aware that the primary cause of traffic jams on highways is the rubber banding effect. A ferret runs trough the road, and the first car in the line slows down from 70 to 60. The second car notices this too late, and he slows down to 50, the third car to 40 and so on. Until there will be a car that stops completely just because of the first car changed speed from 70 to 60. And you have yourself a traffic jam. The knock on effect from which can go back miles. And with a very high risk of a pileup. This can be completely eliminated by using self driving cars that monitor the position and speed of other cars on the road constantly. So only the first few cars on the road have to slow down a bit and the amount they slow down decreases with each car not increases like with fallible humans.
I hope now you can see how autonomous cars can decrease congestion. It's not just about raw speed it's about how close the cars can follow each other. Especially in rush hour traffic. You can go with 40 miles an hour in the city but if there is 3 car lengths of gap between each car crossing an intersection, you'll get much less cars trough than with cars driving 20 miles/hour but with 1 car lengths of gap.
Not to mention the assumption that self driving cars will be slower than the average human driver is completely baseless. And don't forget it only takes one Gladys pottering about at 15mph to slow down the entire traffic. Just because you're able to drive faster than the self driving cars will drive doesn't mean it won't better for everyone if Gladyses don't take the wheel anymore.

You are grossly over-simplifying a complex issue and imagining a unicorn and rainbow outcome without consideration for reality.

It very much seems to me that you're the one over simplifying the issue.