Cars That Drive Themselves, would TPTB ever let it happen?

I want to start by expressing this has nothing to do with the recent events regarding Toyota and their sticky accelerator.

Autopilot on Automobiles, Coming Soon?

Torrance, CA. Only blocks from where my office is located, sits the corporate HQ of Toyota/Lexus, Honda, and Nissan. Ive grown accustomed to seeing all the new, secret, test vehicles being driven around on the quiet street outside my window. They always have a black leather car cover covering the entire body, with just the windows cut out, so people have no clue what they're seeing, or what manufacturer the car is. If you happen to get close enough to one of these prototypes you'll notice the interior is always covered in a blue plastic film. Clearly, the competitive nature of the auto industry requires the aforementioned companies to work around the clock, developing the newest, coolest, or most technological advancements for their products.

Next door to my office building is a nice little cafe, frequented bv many of these auto execs due to its convenience, and the fact that its owned by a friendly Japanese family. Yesterday, I was next door ordering my lunch as usual, when I saw something drive up that made me do a double take. It was one of these typical looking prototype vehicles, except the driver drove into the parking spot, and got out on the passenger side. I assumed it was just foreign style, with the steering wheel/pedals on the right hand side. On further inspection I could clearly see this was not the case. The steering wheel was on the left side, but there was NO drivers side seat! The man must have called his order in because he walked in, picked up his food and left while I was still waiting for mine. When he opened the passenger side door to get in, I could clearly see that in the spot where the drivers seat should be was only a camera on a tripod, facing the wheel, dashboard, and pedals. I saw him type something in to a keyboard, and off he went. The car drove itself while he sat there holding a clipboard and his bag of food. It all happened so fast that when I went for my phone to take a picture, I realized I had left it on my desk, and that there was no chance of making it back in time.

I instantly thought back to a few years ago when a buddy of mine (who works for Lexus) told me that within ten years all new cars would be able to drive themselves. I chalked it up to the fact that he had more than a few drinks in him, and that he was exaggerating. Lexus does make cars that can parallel park themselves. After seeing the prototype yesterday that drove itself, I'm convinced that what my buddy said could be a very real possibility. It makes sense, almost every car is equipped with GPS now, as well as sensors on the bumpers to avoid collisions. Mercedes-Benz makes cars that will avoid objects themselves if the driver cannot. There was talk of this in the media two years ago here here and here Just to name a few.

But what does this mean for the public?

I would absolutely love to use the hours and hours I spend driving on other things, like say learning a new language, playing guitar, or perusing ATS. Even better would be not having to worry about bad drivers, DUI's, or speeding tickets. Granted, there would have to be a manual over ride function for safety reasons, & I'm sure some people would still like to drive their fun sports cars.

But, what would happen to the many many traffic cops? Would they be out of a job? Or would they have to spend their time going after real criminals? (No offense to LE's, not trying to make this into yet another cop bashing thread. I'd actually love to hear their take on this)

What about local city and state governments? Wouldn't they have less public funds to squander if they lost their ability to rake in money from all those red light cameras, traffic tickets, DUI arrests? How would the laws change?

Would this mean more checkpoint traffic stops, looking for outstanding warrants, or illegal substances? After all, if police rarely pulled over vehicles, there would be so many more people trafficking contraband.

Would this mean an increase in alcoholism and drug use, since drivers would no longer worry about driving inebriated?

What would this do to the economy? The companies and jobs based around car accidents?

Would this eliminate traffic collisions? How would that affect insurance companies?

Who would be to blame if the car malfunctioned and killed people?

Are we putting too much faith in technology? Especially after the recent events with the sticky accelerators?

Most importantly, keeping all these questions in mind, would TPTB ever let this come to fruition? Or will this technology go the way of the electric car? (I recommend watching the movie "Who Killed The Electric Car." It goes into detail how the government quietly killed off the electric car without anyone noticing)

The more I think about this, the more I realize it would really change our daily lives, even society in general, for better...or for worse. I know the good people and critical thinkers of ATS would help shed some light on this topic. How would it affect YOU?

to me, there are just too many variables when your driving, like potholes, roadkill, pedestrians and the like. Plus I would be afraid my car would drive into another car.

also, what if your flying down the highway at 70+ miles an hour and someone infront of you loses a tire? would an accident avoiding car swerve left or right at the high speeds? cause roll overs have happened at alot lower speeds.

to me, the only way it would work is if all cars were networked together so they could get information about the other cars, plus local road conditions. Big Brother would probably like knowing where you and your car is throughout the day, and a networked car could give them that info without anyone knowing.

[edit on 2-3-2010 by drsmooth23]

reply to post by drsmooth23


Good points. I guess it would work best on a long road trip with a long stretch of desolate road. Kind of like high tech cruise control.

There was a product years ago (5 or 6+) which insurance companies were trying to make mandatory in Australia.
It was a Sensor placed on the rear and front bumper of the car (like the parking sensors new cars have now).
While driving if you came to close to another car it would automaticly slow the car down to avoid an accident.
Nothing ever happened, the product was never released, im not sure what the reasons were it never passed.

Hhhhmmmmm sounds like a bad idea to me. There are so many factors to consider when driving. Pot holes, accidents, road kill just to name a few. Besides I enjoy driving, it's a stress reliever for me, unless it's a traffic jam, then I go insane!

[edit on 2-3-2010 by Wondering302]

[edit on 2-3-2010 by Wondering302]

reply to post by wycky


There are cruise controls available that will regulate your speed based on the car in front. It isn't very good when you are behind a motorcycle, though. Not enough of a target for it to read.

BTW: According to the laws of some states the red light cameras that generate so much revenue for cities are actually illegal. There is no 'witness' to a crime, so it cannot have happened. A photograph taken by an eye-witness is very different from an automated photograph, apparently.
Of course, they've made it impossible to fight in court, so the revenue continues to come in.

www.highwayrobbery.net...

reply to post by wycky


Some luxury cars have something like that already.
en.wikipedia.org...

I've been in the boss's lexus and he was showing me the feature. Kind of scary when you give up control going that fast on the highway.

I think it could only lead to lazy dangerous drivers in the long run.

[edit on 2-3-2010 by pedroroach]

Originally posted by WhiteDevil013
reply to post by drsmooth23

 

Good points. I guess it would work best on a long road trip with a long stretch of desolate road. Kind of like high tech cruise control.

I agree it might not be suitable for all driving conditions at first, but it could be enabled when the conditions are suitable, just like cruise control.

Controlled access interstates and freeways where avoiding collisions with other cars would seem to be a suitable usage, since collision avoidance with cars should be the easy part, it's driving downtown and avoiding pedestrians that dart out in front of you, etc that I'm not so sure about.

I would guess that just like a cruise control, you could still set it to speed, so traffic cops would still have a job to give out tickets to people who speed just like the ones who do now on cruise control. But if you use cruise control right, it does make it easier to follow the speed limits and avoid accidentally going too fast, so the autopilot would help too in the same way. But neither will prevent speeding.