tex2670

I thought after the Toyota "unintended acceleration" fiasco that the buttons were reprogrammed so that you could hold them down for 3 seconds and shut off the engine.

mmarshall

Could be......I'm not sure about that. If one loses power brakes/steering, though, when that happens, for people with weak arms and legs, that could (?) be almost as risky as the unintended acceleration itself.

comotiger

Just imagine, if a hacker were able to mess with the brakes or steering in a moving car, even if the engine cannot be shut off, that would be disastrous!

mmarshall

Yes, and, taking the thread-topic into account, we're talking not only just about steering and brakes, but about ALL of the systems on a car being exposed to hacking.

comotiger

Hacking dangers notwithstanding, I think in 16 years these issues will have been substantially resolved, and the safety record of the autonomous driving vehicle will be pretty good.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Autonomous driving is never going to be a reality, not in the real world. I'd like to see how an autonomous car copes with congested city with pedestrians and bicyclers having complete disregard for traffic rules and traffic signals, not to mention weather conditions, road constructions and other potential obstacles. You just need human instincts to keep traffic flowing in these conditions.

comotiger

You raise excellent points. I don't know much about the Google car but it has driven over a million miles I think with very few mishaps. I am sure they are testing (or will be testing) these vehicles in real-world conditions including weather, pedestrians, bicycles, traffic lights, and people who run them, etc. Sure, it's hard to imagine how an autonomous vehicle can handle these situations, for example, heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic in a big city. Maybe they will never be able to, but then again I think a lot of adults, let alone 16 year olds, who drive only in suburban traffic will have a hard time driving in peak downtown traffic conditions.

And if autonomous traffic does become more prevalent, a large fraction of vehicles will be able to communicate with each other and with sensors embedded into streets and highways that things might actually get safer.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

so you think humans are superior at this task over a machine?

plex

iTrader: (11)

You should take a trip out to Mountain View, CA and surrounding areas if you can get access to some of the labs to see the advancements of AI and how it will be implemented into autonomous technology. Amazon's Echo and Google's Home devices aren't just simply answering questions they are learning patterns and behaviors. Combine that with other learning devices like NEST thermostat and cameras. I could go on and on but the machines will be trusted more than human instincts sooner than later.

SW17LS

It most certainly will be. Reality is, that most of your concerns have already been dealt with in terms of autonomous driving.

I think by the time my kids are 16 (they turn 2 next month) we will have autonomous driving, but every car won't be autonomous, and it will mostly be highways, etc.

mmarshall

I Dunno, Steve. There are an awful lot of potential roadblocks out there. It may eventually come, but I don't see it anytime soon. It took basically an entire century (1900-2000) to perfect the modern automobile as we know it....with human drivers. And autonomous driving is basically like starting over again. And the liability issues are going to be enormous....even many lawyers, who make their living from liability issues, probably won't want to get involved in it.

dseag2

Judging by personal experience, most 16 year-olds today don't know how to drive a car. They just get by while texting or checking Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I don't have kids, so I don't know if there are even driving schools any longer. We had one at my high school (decades ago) that was really beneficial in teaching me how to drive. The challenge is that no lessons could have ever prepared with today's distracted drivers.

Back on topic, I'm not even sure kids 16 years from now will be interested in driving. They wait now to get their driver's licenses because their world is in their smartphones. I heard an expert talking about what a "connected but isolated" world we live in. Maybe we need much better public transportation to keep some of the cars off the street, or if Uber is still around kids 16 years from now may just choose to be chauffered and not own a car at all.

SW17LS

Technology moves so fast now...think of where we were 16 years ago, and where we are today. Imagine where we'll be 16 years from now? Think of everything invested to autonomous driving...it IS coming, like it or not. People aren't just going to give up.

plex

iTrader: (11)

Correct a good example is comparing the first intel chip to the latest and how much faster the newer ones developed.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Its faster, but not anymore "intelligent".

Computer in an autonomous driving car will always make safety its first priority, which means that the car will basically never move in a city's gridlock traffic. We even have many intersections that are no longer even regulated by traffic signals, but rather there are traffic controllers waving their wands, and you better react fast. Maybe autonomous cars could work in Wiscohiobrascas, but not in a real city.