And how long before GM starts offering police departments a device to display that info in a patrol car? (GM being desperately short of cash at the moment, they just might have an incentive to sell such a device.) Heck, the police could just mount boxes all over town which scan for the chip’s signal and anytime you violated the speed limit, you get mailed a ticket. Get enough tickets, and I bet the system could be programmed to shut your car down.
I wonder how long GM would last if they ever actually did that? They wouldn’t be able to give their cars away. I predict this technology will not be popular. Hell, first thing I’d is tear that shit out.
I’d bet they’d void every single warranty if you mess with the system in any way. Doesn’t really matter, no-one would buy them anyway, except for rentals agencies and paranoid parents.
I’ve been saying this for years. A few weeks ago, we had DARPA’s race. Now, this. The day when a car can drive itself is coming. Once the bugs are worked out, people will realize that the self-driving car doesn’t get tired, distracted, or drunk and is thus much safer than a car driven by a human. Laws will be passed. Manual driving will remain legal only in isolated areas specially designated for that purpose.
In the meantime, if they take out the shutdown feature they could have something.
Problem is, I don’t see anything in the article which indicates the stuff will be able to recognize road hazards like dropped objects, car swallowing pot holes, and the like. Until they get that worked out (and promise not to use a M$ designed OS), I ain’t “driving” one of those cars.
Og, I hope so. I hope that day comes as quickly as the motherloving inventors can get that stuff out there. But do you think there are any big businesses who would hold back the safe cars- like insurance companies, or funeral homes?
Funeral homes don’t care if people die young. So long as people die and have expensive funerals, they’re happy. Once the technology is proven safe, insurance companies will charge much lower premiums on self-driving cars and will lobby strongly for manual driving to be outlawed. Fewer accidents means fewer payouts.
Tuckerfan I can’t come up with a proper technology analogy at the moment. Model A? Cylinder gramaphone? I see the system in that article as the clumsy first generation of what I’m predicting. The autonomous vehicles in the DARPA race are equipped with the hardware and software to detect debris, potholes, etc. While the military will never allow sale of the same technology they’re using, they will allow sale of technology a few generations behind. AFAIC, things are progressing considerably faster than I thought.
Not fast enough AFAIC. Every day we don’t drive around in one of those smart cars is another day I might get smashed up by some drunk jerk. :rolleyes: Or some teenager. Or some elderly person. Or some adult. Or you.
And how much will one of these marvels of the highway cost? Not to mention how much will the annual inspection of these vehicles (which will be necessary) cost? And how long before software hacks for the systems to override safety features show up on the internet? (You know, someone doesn’t like the fact that their car obeys the speed limit, so they download a hack which allows the car to go faster, nevermind the fact that it’s not always stable.) Remember, you’re trusting technology from the industry which gave us the Pinto. Eventually, they’ll get the various kinks worked out of the design, I’m sure, but it’s the period of time while they’re working them out that scares the crap out of me.
If the car rats you out to the cops, it’ll go down in history as the least successful automobile of all time. GM knows this as well as any of us, which is why I’m sure that they wouldn’t do something like that.
As for self-driving cars, I say bring 'em on. I have a long commute, and I’d love to be able to sit back and relax while the car takes care of itself. Maybe I could get a little extra sleep. And as has been mentioned, drunk driving would no longer be a problem.
But would anyone actually own one of these marvels? It would make more sense to subscribe to a transportation service. You just step outside, dial a number on your cellphone, and one of these self-driving robot cars shows up seconds later. Then, after taking you safely and efficiently to you chosen destination, disappears back from hence it came.
Beats having to change the earl iffin’ you axe me.
The vehicles can anticipate and react to changing driving situations and then instantly warn the drivers with chimes, visual icons and seat vibrations. If the driver doesn’t respond to the alerts, the car can bring itself to a safe stop, avoiding a collision.
My main problem with this is what about people with cars that DON’T have this little feature. As the engineers are forcing me to stop, the idiot in the Dodge Dart behind me is going to slam into me.
But then again, I hate the ABS systems. Sometimes you just need to slam the brakes on NOW. I am perfectly capable of stopping and tweaking on my own brakes, but now and then a serious panic stop is required - like when that car is stopped in the road dead ahead of me and I have to sluff off speed NOW.
Maybe if we went to a system like Germany and France have where you actually have to learn to drive, and a license is a privalege not a right we can stop legislating and forcing engineering tweaks on people … am I the only female under 90 that can properly heel and toe, double shift, and actually drive something other than an automatic? Heck, I even know how to use a manual choke =\
I think you guys are underestimating the power of marketing and the gullibility of the average buyer. All they need is a few commercials showing their brilliant, intelligent cars swerving around baby seals lying in the middle of the road, stopping because Bambi decided to stroll across the freeway in the middle of the night, and ending with a smiling baby in the backseat, and GM will have their sales all wrapped up.
What is wrong with you people? I love this idea! In fact, I want the computer to do everything. All I want to do is punch in a destination, then sit back and watch DVD’s or play AOE3 while I wait to get there.
Me too! I’d rather be reading a book, surfing the Web, or watching a DVD while the car drives me into work in the morning.
Not to mention, I’m looking forward to a day when rush-hour traffic reports don’t report a single accident, and traffic fatalities drop to near zero.
One thing it will really be good for: these days, older people get to a point where they’ve got no business driving a car. Given how car-dependent most of America is, one of two things happens at this point: the old fogey keeps driving anyway, endangering pedestrians and other drivers, or the old fogey (understandably) feels isolated and helpless because they can’t get out and do the simple stuff of life - go to the store, to a restaurant, etc. - until someone’s available to drive them.
For them, this technology would be more than just a convenience - it would be a lifeline.
I’m not sure what the fuss is all about. I’ve seen demonstrations of self-driving cars, cars sending each other informations or receiving informations about the position of other vehicles from terminals on the side of the road I don’t know how many times on TV during the recent years. It’s not like these are new concepts that just appeared.
It might become someday mandatory to use an “autopilot” when driving on major highways, but it’s not for tomorrow. These are just prototypes.
And besides, why not? It would probably indeed be much safer.
