# Would you ride in a self-driven car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 7, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409 "2013-01-07T22:44:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/101 "2013-01-13T20:11:03Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > That’s what they said about horseless carriages way back when. > [@Isamu](#): > > Did they? I must have missed that. Sam is right - ‘road locomotives’ and horseless carriages were far from welcome when first invented. Here is an example from an 1896 publication (available as a free eBook) in [google books](http://books.google.com/books?id=v3tHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=folly+of+the+horseless+carriage&source=bl&ots=KZRKcLmxqg&sig=lXIUNx_-8rUxbas3i_AXUd6eZXM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BRDzUIqJOqr-iwKJrYHICg&ved=0CGcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=folly%20of%20the%20horseless%20carriage&f=false): > [@](#): > > \*\*BLOCKED BY ACTS OF PARLIAMENT \*\* > > The question was brought before the House of Commons and a committee inquired into the subject which however came to no very definite conclusion. But the advocates of horse traction were victorious in the end and in 1861 the blow fell and the first act for regulating the use of locomotives upon common roads was passed. It placed the making of regulations for these vehicles into the hands of a Secretary of State but provided in addition that the tires of the wheels were to be three inches wide that the engines were to consume their own smoke that they were to have at least two drivers and were not to exceed ten miles an hour in the country and five miles an hour in towns. > > The act concluded that no locomotive might be used so as to be a nuisance. These restrictions were tolerably onerous but they were nothing compared with those which followed. > > In 1865 it seems to have been determined to destroy all prospect of ever driving coaches or carriages by steam. It was this act which to this day blocks the use of autocars in England. > > No one was allowed to use a horseless carriage unless it was preceded by a man on foot carrying a red flag. Any one in a carriage could stop it by merely raising his hand and no greater speed than four miles in the country and two in town was permitted. In 1878 local authorities were given the right to levy license fee up to £10 with the result that as the law now stands a person with an autocar who desires to go from London to Newcastle must take out nine separate licenses at a cost of £85. He must take a week at least over the journey. He must procure nine sets of conflicting by laws which he must be careful to obey and his groom must walk in front of him the whole way with a red flag. > > Thus perished the nascent industry It was hoped that the legislation levied against traction engines would not be used against cycles but in 1881, Sir Thomas Parkyn who died last year employed Mr Bateman a manufacturer of emery wheels now living to construct a steam tricycle. Sir Thomas Parkyn was at once prosecuted although his machine emitted no steam and made so little noise that the policeman who gave evidence respecting it was doubtful how it was driven the magistrate had no option but to enforce the law and the sentence was ratified by the High Court of Justice. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/102 "2013-01-13T20:29:07Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > sometime in the next 20 to 25 years, I expect to give up my license due to age. > > By then, I expect to be able to own a self-driving car or simply summon one to my home for a trip to the store. I will expect my genetically modified monkey butler to be able to drive. ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/103 "2013-01-13T20:32:00Z")
I would love to ride in a self-driving fully computerized car. Heck, if it could navigate Washington D.C.'s nightmares of navigation (for me) streets, I might actually go there more than once in a blue moon. There are so many inherent positives about a self-driving car, especially if we can summon one anytime we like for a low fee and therefore don’t have to own one. However, I don’t expect our culture to have a completely automated car culture for at least 100 years; it would take at least that long for all the folks who like to drive themselves or love the old non-automated cars to die off or stop resisting. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/104 "2013-01-13T22:48:20Z")
On the relevance of antipathy to cars in their early days: [Of Frightened Horses and Autonomous Vehicles](http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2087875_code703158.pdf?abstractid=2008507&mirid=1). > [@](#): > > most early automobile cases involved claims that the sight or sound of a motor carriage caused a horse to take fright, resulting in injury either to the horse’s rider, the occupants of a carriage or wagon the horse had been towing, or the horse itself.15 The author’s main point is that early cases against cars had very little to do with modern automobile lawsuit cases; it is hard to predict how the legal system will handle cases. Given a scenario of gradual introduction of vehicle self control as constantly advancing Advanced Driver Assist Systems, and as vehicle platoons (road trains - see [The SARTRE Projec](http://www.sartre-project.eu/en/Sidor/default.aspx)t) on interstates in which a lead vehicle driven by a professional driver controls the other vehicles for large periods of time via vehicle to vehicle communication with individual vehicle safety redundancies, rather than completely autonomous vehicles being released whole cloth, there will be time for these liability issues to evolve. The author suggests the possibility that > [@](#): > > the innovations incorporated within autonomous vehicles may confer upon them a competitive advantage relative to conventional automobiles—which, after all, also may be attacked insofar as they fail to incorporate the safety enhancing devices that appear within autonomous cars … ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/105 "2013-01-14T00:31:25Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > By then, I expect to be able to own a self-driving car or simply summon one to my home for a trip to the store. That’s what I used to think would happen by the year 2000. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/106 "2013-01-14T02:23:15Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > A guy I knew fairly well in college swerved to avoid a dog on the road, and killed a pedestrian instead. Can’t see why it would be more of a lawyer’s wet dream when a machine does it. The autonomous car won’t do it…it will have 360 degree vision, unlike human drivers. This is the type of human driving error that will be eliminated by driverless cars. It can’t come soon enough. Lawyers will have to find other things to do. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/107 "2013-01-14T02:42:45Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > I would happily go to Los Angeles, San Francisco or Las Vegas more often if I did not have to do the actual driving. Watch a movie, talk on the phone, play a game, make out with the g/f… You can do all of that today, on Greyhound. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/108 "2013-01-14T06:06:36Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Human drivers do the same thing all the time,… Human driver takes control, deals with the situation, the reactivates auto drive Yes, but we were talking about cars that are not operated by humans. Now you’ve changed it into human operated cars. I’ve already said I’m all for that. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/109 "2013-01-14T13:37:56Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Yes, but we were talking about cars that are not operated by humans. Now you’ve changed it into human operated cars. I’ve already said I’m all for that. I am talking about operating like the google prototypes now. This attitude is exactly what I was referring to before of making demands you would never ask of a human driver. Honestly, I would buy a self driving car right now if it just drove as well as the average joe and they are already doing better. I dont expect self driving cars to deal with every little aspect of driving, more like 95% like many commercial aircraft today. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/110 "2013-01-14T13:40:40Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > You can do all of that today, on Greyhound. Yes you can, and take 3 times as long to get to the destination city and then need to get a ride to your final destination. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/111 "2013-01-15T18:38:36Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > GPS may not be as accurate as it would need to be to keep cars not only on the road, but in the right lane. My son was watching some eposide of that show \*Top Gear \*a while back, where they were supposed to drive around using only GPS (all the windows were blacked out). They could barely keep the cars _ **on** _ the roads, but the GPS kept indicating they were fine and kept issuing directions. You don’t need GPS to be accurate enough to keep you in the right lane, though. If you can’t see the lane markings on the road, but there are other cars, you stay in the lanes created by the other cars (which is what humans do anyway. I was driving on snow-covered roads this weekend, and no one cares exactly where the lane lines were.) If there are no other cars, then it doesn’t really matter what lane you’re in. If there are no other cars and you can’t tell where the edge of the _road_ is, then you really shouldn’t be driving at all. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/112 "2013-02-02T21:09:26Z")
I kind of get the idea that the idea of driverless cars is being mixed up with the idea of utopian fantasies. Not just comments on this thread but some other things I’ve read. I can see the former happending but not the latter. I don’t see people letting go of the desire to own cars. Parking lots and garages aren’t going to go away. Once your car drops you off at the mall, where’s it going to go if there’s no parking? Drive around the block for an hour? The idea of just renting cars-- the car you were in picking someone else up and then you hopping in another when you’re done shopping sounds fine until you need a properly adjusted car seat, or want to leave a couple of bags of wood chips that you bought at the previous stop in the trunk while you go pick up some blue jeans. And the idea that cars can become tiny ignores the reality that sometimes we haul wood chips or boats. What if instead of programming the mall in as my destination, I want to drive down the street looking stopping at garage sales? That said I look forward to being able to take a nap while my car drives it self from Minneapolis to Chicago… ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/113 "2013-02-02T21:58:54Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > [ul] > [li] They could go much faster on the highway than is currently allowed with manual control.[/li][/ul] They go fast enough! :eek: No I would NOT get in a self-driven car. If I ever did I’d probably be stomping so hard on my imaginary brakes that I’d put a hole in the floor! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/114 "2013-02-02T22:07:17Z")
if it had an ejection seat. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/115 "2013-02-02T22:29:38Z")
The google cars are supposedly as safe as human driven cars, and are getting better I’d hope. [300k miles with no computer initiated accidents.](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/08/googles-self-driving-cars-300-000-miles-logged-not-a-single-accident-under-computer-control/260926/) Give it another few years for it to hit market, then another 10 years for it to be reasonable affordable then I’ll buy one. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/116 "2013-02-02T22:40:50Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > That’s why I was honestly surprised to read **MacTech** ’s wall of no response. Currently the market is speaking that these sorts of vehicle autonomy driver enhancements (advanced driver assistance systems, ADAS) are desirable, just not yet at an acceptable price point for many outside of the higher end segment. (Personally I was somewhat disappointed that my new car’s only option of that sort was the autopark bit, which I could care less about. If it had offered the adaptive cruise control or pre-collision features I’d have gladly sprung some more money.) The “nannyware” may be wanted, or perhaps tolerated by the average, everyday driver, but are an anathema to driving enthusiasts like myself and others who actually ENJOY driving… …that’s also why I have never owned an automatic, and never will… ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/117 "2013-02-02T23:11:54Z")
[How Roads Could Beat Rail](http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2013/01/24/how-roads-could-beat-rail/) ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/118 "2013-02-03T00:53:53Z")
I’ve rethought my initial conclusions about car sharing; at first I thought that it would be the most sensible and popular mode of usage. But too many people travel at the same time and it would seem to be a waste of energy for empty cars to be constantly traveling, though perhaps I’m just not envisioning things the way they will become. The advantages of an integrated computer-controlled traffic system are so great in their totality that all the objections and concerns I’m reading will be brushed aside with little fanfare. Especially if we make a breakthrough in cheap electric generation – that will change \*everything \*and auto travel maybe most of all. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/119 "2013-02-04T14:11:39Z")
No, and I wouldn’t want anyone else riding in them either since I don’t trust their accuracy. However, I think that in the future railroad-like technology should be installed on major highways to transport cars between cities while the drivers can sightsee, take a nap, read, or have sex with passengers. Another idea is to have flotational bumper balloon “cars”, and everyone could float around, in the air, in their personal “car” without worrying about collisions. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409/120 "2013-02-04T14:21:11Z")
> [@](#): > > : > Originally Posted by drachillix > I would happily go to Los Angeles, San Francisco or Las Vegas more often if I did not have to do the actual driving. Watch a movie, talk on the phone, play a game, make out with the g/f… > > You can do all of that today, on Greyhound. … seated in close proximity to either a person who weighs 400 lbs or a transient with bad breath and a hacking cough who can’t stop talking for a moment of quiet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-ride-in-a-self-driven-car/646409.md?page=7)