Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday February 05 2019, @08:32AM   Printer-friendly
from the https://www.xkcd.com/1559/ dept.

Five Reasons are provided by the U.K. DailyMail on why we won't be seeing autonomous cars take over any time soon.

SNOW AND WEATHER

[...] Heavy snow, rain, fog and sandstorms can obstruct the view of cameras. Light beams sent out by laser sensors can bounce off snowflakes and think they are obstacles.

Radar can see through the weather, but it doesn't show the shape of an object needed for computers to figure out what it is.

[...] PAVEMENT LINES AND CURBS

Across the globe, roadway marking lines are different, or they may not even exist. Lane lines aren't standardized, so vehicles have to learn how to drive differently in each city.

[...] DEALING WITH HUMAN DRIVERS

For many years, autonomous vehicles will have to deal with humans who don't always play by the rules.

[...] LEFT TURNS

Deciding when to turn left in front of oncoming traffic without a green arrow is one of the more difficult tasks for human drivers and one that causes many crashes. Autonomous vehicles have the same trouble.

[...] CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE

The fatal Uber crash near Phoenix last year did more than push the pause button on testing.

It also rattled consumers who someday will be asked to ride in self-driving vehicles.

Surveys taken after the Uber crash showed that drivers are reluctant to give up control to a computer.

I fully intend to spend my twilight years relaxing in relative safety while the car drives me around; I'm gonna be torqued if they take too long.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Wednesday February 06 2019, @10:53AM

    by Rivenaleem (3400) on Wednesday February 06 2019, @10:53AM (#797120)

    However, a series of autonomous cars might travel at highway speeds almost touching bumpers to cut down on wind resistance. Relying on reading the brake light signals instead of the lead car telling all the other cars it plans to slow down seems like a lost opportunity. Roundabouts and other junctions where all the approaching cars are automatically placed into a approach pattern that means none of them have to stop is another example. I'm hoping that AI will be capable of managing this kind of car to car communication, making it harder for malicious actors getting involved. Anyway, as per the relevant XKCD, there's nothing stopping malicious people giving false signals, dressing up as cops and stopping traffic already. As per Hollywood, hacking the traffic signals seems a trivial thing, so why doesn't it happen all the time? Because generally people aren't assholes.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2