Autonomous driving legal next year

unforeseen

May be that pedestrians will need to be fenced in such that they can only cross at specified places. The will have gates tied in with the traffic light system. A bit like the platform doors on the Underground

ComicGeek

We have a Mustang MachE - it pretty much drives itself on the motorway now, just need to keep hands lightly on the steering wheel. It works really really well, makes long journeys much easier. The only difference between the current situation and the proposed upgrade is that the driver won't need to keep their hands on the wheel - personally I'm not paying £20/month for that, and would feel safer hands on anyway.

It doesn't operate in poor weather conditions or where lane markings are really unclear, and can only be activated when conditions are appropriate. 

All of the comments above relate to city/urban driving - that's not what the system is for, and it can only be activated in specific areas anyway so isn't relevant for now. Important questions and concerns for the future though as automation moves forward.

Emmia

unforeseen said:

May be that pedestrians will need to be fenced in such that they can only cross at specified places. The will have gates tied in with the traffic light system. A bit like the platform doors on the Underground

Everyone is a pedestrian at somepoint, and so I doubt that wholesale fencing of every pavement everywhere is likely to be popular. 
 
Crossing points in this scenario  would have to be substantially more frequent than they are now too - and there are safety concerns - occupants in a broken down car (perhaps one on fire) would be trapped in a live traffic area, and would find it difficult to avoid being in a collision themselves.

unforeseen

 occupants in a broken down car (perhaps one on fire) would be trapped in a live traffic area, and would find it difficult to avoid being in a collision themselves.

And that is any different to urban dual carriageways and smart motorways now? 

MouldyOldDough

ComicGeek said:

We have a Mustang MachE - it pretty much drives itself on the motorway now, just need to keep hands lightly on the steering wheel. It works really really well, makes long journeys much easier. The only difference between the current situation and the proposed upgrade is that the driver won't need to keep their hands on the wheel - personally I'm not paying £20/month for that, and would feel safer hands on anyway.

It doesn't operate in poor weather conditions or where lane markings are really unclear, and can only be activated when conditions are appropriate. 

All of the comments above relate to city/urban driving - that's not what the system is for, and it can only be activated in specific areas anyway so isn't relevant for now. Important questions and concerns for the future though as automation moves forward.

So what happens if you are driving semi autonomously and suddenly hit dense fog? 

user1977

MouldyOldDough said:

ComicGeek said:

We have a Mustang MachE - it pretty much drives itself on the motorway now, just need to keep hands lightly on the steering wheel. It works really really well, makes long journeys much easier. The only difference between the current situation and the proposed upgrade is that the driver won't need to keep their hands on the wheel - personally I'm not paying £20/month for that, and would feel safer hands on anyway.

It doesn't operate in poor weather conditions or where lane markings are really unclear, and can only be activated when conditions are appropriate. 

All of the comments above relate to city/urban driving - that's not what the system is for, and it can only be activated in specific areas anyway so isn't relevant for now. Important questions and concerns for the future though as automation moves forward.

So what happens if you are driving semi autonomously and suddenly hit dense fog? 

Looks like the car will pull over, or just stop where it is (unless you take over manual control quickly enough):

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/autonomous-cars-confused-by-san-franciscos-fog/

I suppose if you get a car using radar then it will be able to take fog in its stride?

ComicGeek

MouldyOldDough said:

ComicGeek said:

We have a Mustang MachE - it pretty much drives itself on the motorway now, just need to keep hands lightly on the steering wheel. It works really really well, makes long journeys much easier. The only difference between the current situation and the proposed upgrade is that the driver won't need to keep their hands on the wheel - personally I'm not paying £20/month for that, and would feel safer hands on anyway.

It doesn't operate in poor weather conditions or where lane markings are really unclear, and can only be activated when conditions are appropriate. 

All of the comments above relate to city/urban driving - that's not what the system is for, and it can only be activated in specific areas anyway so isn't relevant for now. Important questions and concerns for the future though as automation moves forward.

So what happens if you are driving semi autonomously and suddenly hit dense fog? 

Don't know as that hasn't happened yet, but I have manually reverted back to normal driving during heavy rain showers - I suspect that the capabilities of the sensors are much higher than my confidence in the system (and my personal risk level!), so I'm unlikely to test it in extreme conditions. 

MouldyOldDough

user1977 said:

MouldyOldDough said:

ComicGeek said:

We have a Mustang MachE - it pretty much drives itself on the motorway now, just need to keep hands lightly on the steering wheel. It works really really well, makes long journeys much easier. The only difference between the current situation and the proposed upgrade is that the driver won't need to keep their hands on the wheel - personally I'm not paying £20/month for that, and would feel safer hands on anyway.

It doesn't operate in poor weather conditions or where lane markings are really unclear, and can only be activated when conditions are appropriate. 

All of the comments above relate to city/urban driving - that's not what the system is for, and it can only be activated in specific areas anyway so isn't relevant for now. Important questions and concerns for the future though as automation moves forward.

So what happens if you are driving semi autonomously and suddenly hit dense fog? 

Looks like the car will pull over, or just stop where it is (unless you take over manual control quickly enough):

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/autonomous-cars-confused-by-san-franciscos-fog/

I suppose if you get a car using radar then it will be able to. take fog in its stride?

So if your car stops suddenly on the motorway!
And you are on a smart motorway 
Crunch

Ectophile

MouldyOldDough said:

user1977 said:

MouldyOldDough said:

ComicGeek said:

We have a Mustang MachE - it pretty much drives itself on the motorway now, just need to keep hands lightly on the steering wheel. It works really really well, makes long journeys much easier. The only difference between the current situation and the proposed upgrade is that the driver won't need to keep their hands on the wheel - personally I'm not paying £20/month for that, and would feel safer hands on anyway.

It doesn't operate in poor weather conditions or where lane markings are really unclear, and can only be activated when conditions are appropriate. 

All of the comments above relate to city/urban driving - that's not what the system is for, and it can only be activated in specific areas anyway so isn't relevant for now. Important questions and concerns for the future though as automation moves forward.

So what happens if you are driving semi autonomously and suddenly hit dense fog? 

Looks like the car will pull over, or just stop where it is (unless you take over manual control quickly enough):

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/autonomous-cars-confused-by-san-franciscos-fog/

I suppose if you get a car using radar then it will be able to. take fog in its stride?

So if your car stops suddenly on the motorway!
And you are on a smart motorway 
Crunch

That's why the driver is supposed to be ready to take control at a moment's notice.  Many systems require that you are touching the steering wheel even in autonomous mode.

MouldyOldDough

Ectophile said:

MouldyOldDough said:

user1977 said:

MouldyOldDough said:

ComicGeek said:

We have a Mustang MachE - it pretty much drives itself on the motorway now, just need to keep hands lightly on the steering wheel. It works really really well, makes long journeys much easier. The only difference between the current situation and the proposed upgrade is that the driver won't need to keep their hands on the wheel - personally I'm not paying £20/month for that, and would feel safer hands on anyway.

It doesn't operate in poor weather conditions or where lane markings are really unclear, and can only be activated when conditions are appropriate. 

All of the comments above relate to city/urban driving - that's not what the system is for, and it can only be activated in specific areas anyway so isn't relevant for now. Important questions and concerns for the future though as automation moves forward.

So what happens if you are driving semi autonomously and suddenly hit dense fog? 

Looks like the car will pull over, or just stop where it is (unless you take over manual control quickly enough):

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/autonomous-cars-confused-by-san-franciscos-fog/

I suppose if you get a car using radar then it will be able to. take fog in its stride?

So if your car stops suddenly on the motorway!
And you are on a smart motorway 
Crunch

That's why the driver is supposed to be ready to take control at a moment's notice.  Many systems require that you are touching the steering wheel even in autonomous mode.

That's dangerous 
Not even knowing when you are supposed to take over