Self driving cars will get their drivers killed

[Jstpssng]

We rented a VW a couple years ago that had adaptive cruise control, lane assist, and some other things. I really liked it.

I'd like to try a Cadillac with Super Cruise.

Most people that I know who have that crap technology disengage as much as they are allowed, upon starting up the vehicle.
It's like anything though. I've gotten spoiled from having a backup camera. I used to be able to back up to my trailer and easily get within a couple of inches from the ball. The camera in my company truck has failed, today it must have taken me about 20 tries to get it right. It was fully loaded so "adjusting" by hand wasn't going to happen.

 

[turbo36]

No matter what the subject is, there are always exceptions. I know of people who were in crashes where being thrown from the vehicle may have saved their lives. Yet more times than not the seat belt is a life saver.
Personally, I hate ABS and have done several hundred dollars worth of front end damage because the truck wouldn't stop on a gravel road when I told it to. I used to disable it, until I realized that if I ever did get into an accident I would be on the hook.
Ironically, what made me realize that was when I almost T-boned a guy in the driver's door. He looked right at me and pulled out;
had my ABS been working he would be dead. Yet that's just an exception. Most people prefer not to learn how to drive, so we need "Help" from technology.

I have been to a number of driver performance schools and have been taught to “threshold brake” even though the car has an ABS system, this negates the tendency of the car to have longer stopping distances on slippery surfaces. I also did a fair amount of ice racing.

 

[MossRoad]

Didn't Stallone star in a crappy movie (Time Cop or something) with self driving cars and it was illegal to drive yourself?

...

I don't think so. I'd guess what you are remembering is, ironically, Total Recall. He was knocked out and woke up in a Johnny Cab that had an auto driver.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Or maybe "I Robot" with The Slapper? (Will Smith).

Bad adaptation of the book by Asimov. He plays a cop that gets in a car wreck while driving on manual, threatened with charges.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have been to a number of driver performance schools and have been taught to “threshold brake” even though the car has an ABS system, this negates the tendency of the car to have longer stopping distances on slippery surfaces. I also did a fair amount of ice racing.

That's interesting. I have finally broken myself of the habit of doing just that, because I've always been told that the computer knows best. Something about having the tire with the least traction control your braking doesn't make sense.
The thing about driving in snow is that sometimes locking the brakes briefly is a good thing; as it lets the tires cut down past the snow to a rougher surface. "Back in the day" we were taught to pump the brakes under slippery conditions... now ABS tries to mimic that same motion.
The worst is when the right side of the vehicle is on ice and the left side is on bare tar. You can forget about stopping. I sometimes get frustrated and reef the wheel over when I see a bare spot to hit.

Driving on ice is the best way to learn how to control your vehicle under all conditions. Racing must be a blast!

 

[Oaktree]

Won't happen in this century...!

Who knows, there's a lot of century left! Look how much has changed in the last 78 years.
Probably won't happen in my lifetime though

 

[cqaigy2]

Many years ago, I learned to drive a shtty car in snow and ice, and could probably still stop faster without ABS than with it. I don't think the method i would use without ABS would work well with ABS enabled. Most of the people around here have not driven much on snow and ice and that's why i glad there's something like ABS enabled on their vehicles and you can tell the vehicles that don't have working ABS cause as soon as it starts to slid, they lock up the brakes and the car does amazing things.

 

[mikester]

You're missing the point. If all the vehicles had automatic driving, NO humans would be able to make the bad choice in the first place. That bus never would have pulled out in front of you. We'd all get to where we are going, only a lot slower.

Even if they removed the steering wheels on every Tesla and forced every car into self driving mode Elon Musk would still blame the accidents on the driver occupant.

 

[Sigarms]

I'm not sure this was meant for me? Where did I say the government couldn't track my smart phone? Tracking a smart phone and having the ability to control my movements are two different things.

I believe it may be called "old man syndrome" not being able to keep track of all the posts if that make sense

 

[MossRoad]

Huh?

 

[lman]

That is true if technology can be advanced to where it has a high degree of certainty. There would be way less crashes, and the government would certainly be keeping us safe. Perhaps we should expand it to all things in life? We should live in government supplied apartment buildings that have been deemed safe for our existence. Certainly individual property ownership leads to potential for accidents. And by all means we should advanced vegetarian factory foods, because that would certainly save the planet. oh, and my owning a gun can really lead to an accident, certainly need to ban those.

Of course I’m saying all this in jest so please don’t come at me with fires and pitchforks! I believe the real argument is what level of government intrusion do we want in our world? Driving on the road is a privilege, not a right. When we start taking away all risks in the name of safety it starts a slippery slope.

They are reading this. Don't give them any ideas. They will have to print more money to protect us from ourselves.

 

[Jstpssng]

They are reading this. Don't give them any ideas. They will have to print more money to protect us from ourselves.

In the world he describes, I would succumb to sheer boredom!