Driverless Cars, Good Idea, Horrible Idea?

I'm sure when it finally works, it will be great and useful. Just speaking as someone who works on these kinds of systems, looking at it from an implementation perspective, it seems like an absolute nightmare. Not even from a technological standpoint, but from a behavioral/logical one.

AI as a field is no where near as good as people want to believe it is, despite being explored extensively for around 50 years.

This is not some theoritic still concept, they've been driving for a while already now.

And I can't wait to possess one!

It works, we just won't get it perfect.

In toy scenarios, sure

I want one too, I hate driving and was hoping to be mega-rich so I can hire a chauffeur, but this will do as well

It works as far as "it drives on roads" but hasn't been extensively tested as far as mass-adoption is concerned

EDIT: The word I'm looking for is "robust" --- it works but is no where even CLOSE to deployable.

like, come on guy, It's been 343 years! Airships are sticking around.

edit: it took me a really long time to try to guesstimate how many years have passed in Vana'diel since launch.

I am, actually. At least as far as the textbook definition goes. My only flaw in this regard is a very hearty disdain for hard and fast speed limits set for lowest-common denominator weather conditions, driver ability/knowledge, and vehicle condition.

Though I also acknowledged your points before you made them about how no one is immune to mistakes, distractions, or lapses in judgment.

my being a great driver doesn't save me from people who can't drive.

I would also point out that the two people who have said they trust themselves driving have also conceded the potential benefits of a driverless system and that you're being a bit unreasonable in your desire to mock people who enjoy driving and are cognizant of their own abilities in this regard.

lol, I was about to say "go have some vitamin C before it becomes scurvy" but then didn't because I thought I was the only one who found that funny.

Funny!? This is offensive to pirates!

DO YOU THINK SCURVY IS A *** GAME, LAURELLI!?

Click at your own risk.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend COR's everywhere.

I'm a super great driver. I drive 20 mph under the speed limit everywhere I go and never crash.

When a pedestrian needs to cross the street, I sit there and wait for them, even if it'll be 20 bloody seconds before he comes anywhere near my car.

And when I make a right turn, I come to a complete stop in the middle of the street, even if there's no light or stop sign.

I'm a super duper great driver

I swear to god jesus buddah allah, 70% of people needs to be banned from driving forever

Snark noted, cynicism acknowledged, neither really necessary.

I'm sorry my confidence in my knowledge of traffic procedure and my execution of that knowledge offends.

Did you know that in certain areas you can actually get ticketed for going 20 under the speed limit? When I visited California with a friend, the highway (and to a bigger extent our crazy *** cab driver) was ridiculously scary lol. I think it was 5-6 lanes in each direction with everyone going about 80 miles an hour. Was the most ridiculous/scary thing I ever saw in terms of traffic. It's probably my fault for coming from a small town in Ohio lol.

The cab driver told us it was normal and that you could be ticketed for going slower than everyone else. "Keep up or get off my highway" is what I think what a cop has been quoted as saying.

Driving 20 under is by far a greater threat to others than driving 20 over in all but the worst of weather conditions.

But Ihina was just displaying some sarcasm.

This actually bothered me as a pedestrian when I was in college. I don't trust people in cars to stop, so rather than attempt to stop traffic at a crosswalk with no light and 4 lanes of traffic I would stop about 10 feet away and start looking at my phone until the road was clear so that nobody got the idea that I was trying to cross when traffic was heavy. In spite of that, there was occasionally just that one driver that would feel the need to stop anyway while traffic is going in the other 3 lanes and look at me as if I had a legal obligation to cross right now. Or there were the awkward times when traffic was light and only 1 car was around, and that driver would be in a far lane and stop and wait before I even got to the curb instead of, you know, just driving.

80 scares you?

I don't know what to say about that.


That's interesting because when I was in court fighting off a speeding ticket (that I won *cough*), one other guy tried to use that reasoning and the judge essentially told him that if the speed of traffic is higher than the speed limit and he was moving at the speed of traffic, then he was speeding.

I have also been told by state troopers in Pennsylvania that "speed of traffic" is an unacceptable excuse for speeding and they will nab the person going the fastest in the group.

This is the same trooper, however, who has told me that he doesn't bother stopping anyone going less than 15 MPH over the limit unless conditions are really bad.

In Pennsylvania, at least, you are required to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks where there are not lights. Not that I've ever seen anyone pulled over for not doing so, sadly, but it is a law on the books.

That said, I grew up in a small town where you simply stopped for people in the crosswalks because...likely you knew them anyhow, but even if you didn't whoever you were with probably did.

It's extremely common for people visiting my hometown to comment that they're shocked at people stopping for them in crosswalks.

It's a good law and I understand the point, but if I'm ten feet away, turned away from the street, and clearly not wanting to cross, then it's stupid to be that car that stops a lane of traffic out of principle. If I've got my toes at the edge of the street and I'm staring down cars, then yeah, you need to stop because I'm declaring my right of way.

A friend of mine got ticketed while driving at the speed of traffic. He was not even going a bit faster, just the same as everyone. When he asked the cop "why me if everyone else was going the same speed?" the cop replied "when you go fishing, are you trying to catch all the fish?"

"flow of traffic" or "speed of traffic" is to protect you against being ticketed for below minimum speeds on freeways. If there is a traffic jam you can't help it if you're going under the posted minimum. They do not protect you from speeding when everyone else is speeding.

12 Lanes of traffic all going minimum 80 miles an hour with no such thing as a slow or breakdown lane is extraordinary compared to where I'm from and what I'm used to yes.

80 Itself is not scary. EVERYONE including Granny Smith and Hot Rod John fresh out of high school going 80 is the part that is scary to me.

This is the type of roadway I've delt with all my life. Farmland for forever, SOMETIMES two lanes in each direction and if your *** goes over that speed limit by more than 5 you're going to get a ticket faster than you can blink.



This is the type of roadway in California I saw and had the displeasure of experiencing 80 miles an hour in lol.

Atlanta is the same way. If I am going 80, something is not right.

Also a valid response, as a cop can't stop everyone at once.

But my sources have said that generally in a group of similar-speed traffic there's almost always one doing 1-2 MPH faster at least that gets culled from the heard, so to speak.