Self Driving Cars

AndyMc.....

deaston wrote: »

The highway code is designed for humans. Driverless cars could use a different system. Or the highway code could be updated to allow for driverless cars.

Will driverless cars even need horns? They would be able to communicate their intentions to surrounding cars. Surrounding cars then wouldn't need to second-guess, they'd actually know what other cars are doing.

They could even prevent you from reversing into a hole.

50Twuncle

deaston wrote: »

The highway code is designed for humans. Driverless cars could use a different system. Or the highway code could be updated to allow for driverless cars.

Will driverless cars even need horns? They would be able to communicate their intentions to surrounding cars. Surrounding cars then wouldn't need to second-guess, they'd actually know what other cars are doing.

OK I accept the inevitable, that driverless cars will come -- in time - but the main issue here is what happens when both driverLESS and driverED cars exist together - this IS unavoidable - unless in a few decades time, the government decrees that from 24:00 on 01/01/20xx ALL drivers will be banned from cars - this will never happen - so the problem WILL exist !

Herzlos

You're always going to have human road users though - horse riders, bikes, pedestrians, classic car drivers, tractors and so on, so self driving cars will still need to interact with them (providing warnings via horn, or observing what they do).

deaston

50Twuncle wrote: »

OK I accept the inevitable, that driverless cars will come -- in time - but the main issue here is what happens when both driverLESS and driverED cars exist together - this IS unavoidable - unless in a few decades time, the government decrees that from 24:00 on 01/01/20xx ALL drivers will be banned from cars - this will never happen - so the problem WILL exist !

It'll be gradual but I think this will happen. There was a time that cars and horse drawn carriages shared the road and I'm sure there were problems, but here we are - all cars and no carriages.

I can see something like only autonomous cars being able to use the outside lane of a motorway. Only autonomous cars being able to drive in central London/Manchester/Birmingham. All London cabs being autonomous etc. etc.

There'll come a day that there are more driverless than not and then the government will decide that, from a certain point, only driverless cars can use public roads.

Think of the savings on road signs. The savings to the emergency services and the NHS. The improvements in air quality. The benefits to the economy. The benefits to the disabled, the elderly and the blind.

I love driving, but I'm embracing it. And I'll fight owning an autonomous car for a long time, but once it makes sense, I'll go for it.

NigeWick

50Twuncle wrote: »

I see that Nissan reckon that they will have a fleet of autonomous / self driving cars on UK roads by 2020 ?
How will they cope with :
Roadworks
Temporary route changes
Other drivers trying to "take them out"
Pieces of wood in the road - which human drivers instinctively avoid because of the possibility of nails
Broken glass
Potholes
etc etc etc....
I for one - will not trust a driverless car - ever !!

With Nissan, the software will stop the vehicle when there's something amiss and alert a human in a control centre who will then give instructions. The software will then remember the problem and be able to cope next time. Not forgetting that humans don't see other vehicles, pedestrians, nails, potholes, broken glass, and etc etc etc......

When there's no more petrol or diesel being sold, you will likely have to trust an autonomous vehicle that "can see round corners" because all vehicles will be connected and aware of all other vehicles within a few hundred yards.

Not forgetting that there will be something like 80% less vehicles on our roads as transport will be a cheap service and ownership not worthwhile unless regularly travelling long distances.

NigeWick

deaston wrote: »

It'll be gradual but I think this will happen. There was a time that cars and horse drawn carriages shared the road and I'm sure there were problems, but here we are - all cars and no carriages.

It took a ten years for New York to go from no horseless carriages to no horse drawn carriages.

The way battery technology is going it may be just ten years before all new vehicles will be battery electric. Very soon after that, main roads will charge vehicles wirelessly and we won't need such large batteries to provide decent range.