SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the prepping-for-the-next-gumball-rally dept.
An autonomous car developed by Michigan-based auto supplier Delphi Automotive ( http://www.delphi.com/delphi-drive ) will soon be making a 3,500-mile journey across the U.S. A person will sit behind the wheel at all times but won't touch it unless there's a situation the car can't handle. The car will mainly stick to highways.
Companies both inside and outside the auto industry are experimenting with technologies that take more and more responsibilities away from the driver—right up to the act of actually driving the car. Most experts say a true driverless vehicle is at least a decade away. Delphi plans to show off one of several versions of the car—an Audi Q5 crossover outfitted with laser sensors, radar and multiple cameras—on Saturday at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. The official car will start its journey March 22 in San Francisco and arrive in New York a little more than a week later.The autonomous Audi warmed up for its long journey by racking up lots of miles tooling around Delphi's Silicon Valley office and taking a drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Delphi showed off the car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January where, during a demonstration, the car braked by itself—just like it was supposed to—when two inebriated men fell into the street in front of it.
(Score: 2) by Covalent on Tuesday March 17 2015, @09:42AM
Being in an automobile is still one of the most dangerous activities any of us will ever participate in. Even if the driverless car is only 10% safer it will save thousands of lives each year and it will probably be much safer than that. There are still details to iron out (largely legal ones) but this is good for business and good for the average American so it may be a rare issue both parties can genuinely agree on.
So, Congress: bring it on. Get proactive and draft some legislation to pave the way for this technology (see what I did there?). Work with the industry to develop a standard so there aren't 97 competing partial solutions. And answer the lawsuit question before it blows up.
Man it's early. I just read what I wrote and realized I thought congress would act in a logical, bipartisan way. Never mind. You may commence with your petty squabbles while thousands of Americans needlessly suffer. As you were...
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2015, @10:51AM
Being in an automobile is still one of the most dangerous activities ...
Citation needed. Driving is pretty darn safe. I looked up the US Govt stats (for a comment here a few weeks ago) and staying around the house is about as dangerous due to injuries from falling, etc.
If you use a little common sense, don't drive drunk/impaired (ie, texting), and stay off the road when conditions are bad (fog, ice) then driving gets even safer.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Covalent on Tuesday March 17 2015, @02:25PM
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm [cdc.gov]
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf [cdc.gov] (see page 22)
In the main page, it says the #4 cause of death is accidents (130,557) surpassed only by Heart Disease, Cancer, and Chronic Respiratory diseases. About 30% of those accident deaths (37,938) are motor vehicle accidents, which if separated from accidents in general would be the #10 cause of death in the US.
Of the other top 9, 8 are diseases and 1 is suicide. The diseases are largely caused by poor diet, smoking, and viruses.
So, to sum up, THE most dangerous thing you can do is smoke (contributes to #1, #2, #3, #5), followed by eat a poor diet (contributes to #1, #2, #5, #7), just get really old (essentially all of the diseases are related with advanced age), be around people with the flu (#8), and then drive (#10).
Since I said "One of the most dangerous things...", I think I'm standing on pretty firm footing. I don't smoke, and I eat pretty healthy. I can't help but get old. So that leaves me with influenza and accidents as the two most likely causes of death in my short term future. I get a flu shot, but I can't help but drive...
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday March 17 2015, @11:43AM
Speak for yourself, yellow-pants. Or stop using hyperbolas/absolutes. Your choice, really.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2015, @01:54PM
He is both right and wrong.
It is like a condom. It is 99% effective. However, over a ten year period of using it every day. The effective rate is 10%. Driving is the same thing. Your single trip is probably very safe. But over the long term it is not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year [wikipedia.org]
This shows it is getting better and is miniscule in relation to the population. Which is probably due to having better cars. The number of accidents however has not fallen. It is usually in the 500-1200 per 100k people.
On average though it is probably the most dangerous thing I do every day. Hyperbole sure. However, not too far from the truth.
On my 15 min trip from my house to work. I usually see at least 1-2 stupid things done on the road by other drivers (driving too close, speeding, over the line, turning into oncoming traffic and causing them to slow down, etc). I probably commit a few myself once and awhile. All it takes is someone not paying attention and blam accident.
Aside from death (which is what most people focus on). Think of reducing accidents from 1-2 million a year to a few thousand a year. What that would do to help people out financially. Fixing a car is not cheap. If I were warren buffet I would not be happy (as he plays games financially with car insurance money).
(Score: 2) by Covalent on Tuesday March 17 2015, @02:47PM
The cost to the end user is real and measurable. Good data is not easy to find, but How Stuff Works says (http://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-the-hood/cost-of-car-ownership/auto-maintenance-cost.htm) that "In 2004, the standard family unit earned $54,453, which means they laid out around $817 annually on repairs, or $408 per vehicle."
Let's call it $500 per year in 2014 (inflation). That's a fair amount of money. The same article says about $600 per year on insurance, which presumably would be much less in an accident-free world. Put another way, that's worth something like $5000 for the feature (assuming 5 years of ownership of the car).
And let's not even get started on lost productivity due to lateness from accidents, stress-related illnesses, etc. Increased productivity from working in the car makes the list, too. There are a number of really valuable reasons to promote this technology.
Even better is the possibility of "time sharing" a vehicle. Why own a car that you only drive to and from work? Why not let it drive you to work, then pick up your friend (or total stranger), and take her to work? Then pick you up and take you home, then pick her up and take her home? Split the cost of the vehicle two ways. Maybe even an Uber-like setup with driverless cars just waiting for a call.
I'm so excited that I am going to get to see this. Hurry up googs!
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday March 17 2015, @01:52PM
I have the feeling Congress will get around to it but only after they draft regulation to slow the deployment of the "driverless car" in order to protect existing industries.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by WizardFusion on Tuesday March 17 2015, @04:49PM
FTFY:
I have the feeling Congress will get around to it but only after
theythe automotive industries draft regulation to slow the deployment of the "driverless car" in order to protectexisting industriesthemselves.