Would you buy one of these?

[menzies]

Greetings,
Mr. S. "... replacing one of the pilots with a dog." Airedale?

Wouldn't a Chinook or Harrier be better?

 

[RT Firefly]

Well done Mr. m.

 

[sunchaser]

I was following a Tesla the other day on a busy urban road. It had traffic jammed behind it worse than a Amish buggy. When I was finally able to get around it I see why it was a traffic jammer. Hands free gent looking quite proud of himself was behind the wheel driving the precise speed limit.

Why buy a performance car if it doesn't perform? Three Teslas side by side driving the speed limit autonomously on a busy freeway would create quite a parade. This exercise in marketing 101 will be an interesting hype, especially with tens of billions being theoretically diverted from bridge repairs to roadside logic controls.

Follow the money.

 

[ssobol]

When driveless cars are first widely available, only well off first adopters will get them.
Then they will become available as for hire vehicles (taxis, Uber).
Then they will start to be used (probably for hire) by the elderly and disabled who can afford them.
Then insurance companies will offer large rate reductions for driverless cars (or huge rate increases for driven vehicles), leading to wider adoption.
With driverless cars widely available, the skill requirements to actually drive a car will go up, and people will need to be below a certain age to be able to drive (same as how they make commercial pilots stop flying airliners above 65).
Then people who actually want to drive a car will be relegated to special areas or clubs to do it. Same way people who want to drive really fast have to go to race courses now.
Eventually, people who insist on actually driving their own car will be seen as rich eccentrics.

However, to get there, large segments of workers will be displaced. You won't need taxi drivers, car insurance companies, collision repair centers, traffic cops, amongst others.

If you adopt the for hire pool theory of operation, you won't need the vast parking lots you see everywhere, which will put a big dent in the snow removal business (and parking lot attendants).

Driverless cars are going to be a big employment disrupter and some of those industries are not going to go away without a lot of kicking and screaming (but they will be going away).

 

[ssobol]

... Three Teslas side by side driving the speed limit autonomously on a busy freeway would create quite a parade. ...

In some places the cops do this to control the traffic speed.

 

[john61ct]

Don't y'all feel speed limits should be obeyed?

 

[BandB]

Don't y'all feel speed limits should be obeyed?

I could foresee at some point the vehicles being limited. I think that would mean though a re-examination of speed limits and simultaneously increasing speed limits but eliminating the tolerances of 5 or 10 mph above that are common. Then passing and other situations have to be accounted for.

If everything in operating a car was done automatically, then performance sure becomes a big of a non-factor while comfort the entire emphasis.

I have no earthly idea where it will all lead. ssobol has outlined a nice picture of the future which may or may not be what really happens. I just ask myself how I feel about the technology today and what has been added. I like it. I feel like it makes a car safer. When it comes to autopilot (which I haven't used) I think all the same arguments as in boating. At the current level of development, I'm not ready for driverless cars, but they're going to get there. Massive car share programs where we don't individually own cars, I don't know. Public transportation works well in some major cities, negating the need for cars. On the other hand I've seen the bike sharing and everywhere I've seen it implemented it's been chaotic. Unfortunately, bikes aren't self driving and can't just relocate themselves to where needed.

The generations represented here are all very attached to their cars. I'm not as attached as to boats, but I'm not ready for generic cars to just show up when summoned.

Now, thinking boating. Here's a perfect use for driverless car. You're cruising the coast or the loop or wherever, you just have your car meet you at each town you go to.

 

[ssobol]

... Then passing and other situations have to be accounted for. ....

... but I'm not ready for generic cars to just show up when summoned. ...

In some states you are not allowed exceed the speed limit to pass slower cars (if they are going the speed limit, then you shouldn't need to pass them anyway).

In other states you are allowed to exceed the speed limit when passing. However, the amount you can exceed the limit is usually what is "reasonable and prudent". If the cars ahead of you are spaced right you can go quite fast and still be legal by passing a series of cars.

I'm one of those people who see a car as something to get me from here to there. Yes, they can be fun to drive and all that, but they are also kind of a headache (payments, gas, maintenance, inspections, insurance, etc.). The only personal statement I make with the cars I buy is "I don't care what you think about my car."

If I could get a car to appear within a couple of minutes (e.g. 2 or 3) whenever I wanted (24/7) to take me wherever I wanted at a cost that was less than the per mile cost of my own car, I'd probably do it for most things. I'd still have at least one vehicle for special purposes (like towing my boat, carting stuff).

 

[BandB]

If I could get a car to appear within a couple of minutes (e.g. 2 or 3) whenever I wanted (24/7) to take me wherever I wanted at a cost that was less than the per mile cost of my own car, I'd probably do it for most things. I'd still have at least one vehicle for special purposes (like towing my boat, carting stuff).

Wifey B: Fun fun fun till your daddy takes your t-bird away. Not giving up my car but maybe changing. I don't know but we have fun driving even though we don't do a lot of it. We reached the point in life to own our dream cars. We each have sports cars we put about 4000 miles a year on and we have an SUV we do the same with. Plus a Sprinter we just got a few months ago. The others are all five years old and no plans to replace and we do have a Tesla on order for 2020 just because, not sure the why but we do.

I'd miss a personalized car at first, but for how long would I?

 

[GFC]

In some states you are not allowed exceed the speed limit to pass slower cars (if they are going the speed limit, then you shouldn't need to pass them anyway).

In other states you are allowed to exceed the speed limit when passing. However, the amount you can exceed the limit is usually what is "reasonable and prudent". If the cars ahead of you are spaced right you can go quite fast and still be legal by passing a series of cars.

Ssobol, the Uniform Model Traffic Ordinance, which I believe has been adopted by all states, allows passing a vehicle that is moving below the speed limit and to exceed the speed limit "for a reasonable distance and for a reasonable amount" to safely effect the pass.

It also says that a vehicle traveling in the left lane on a multi lane highway MUST yield the right of way to a faster moving vehicle. Here's the language from WA's law. It is a traffic infraction to drive continuously in the left lane of a multilane roadway when it impedes the flow of other traffic. Notice that it doesn't mention whether or not you or a vehicle that is driving faster than you is exceeding the speed limit. Simply that if you are in the left lane and impeding the flow of traffic you have to move to the right.

 

[AusCan]

Bring on the driverless (and ownerless) car.

When I was between 14 and 24 years old, my vehicle was everything. I lavished it with money, time and love. It was an extension of my persona. Now, a car is a method of getting from A to B. I look forward to not owning a car, but having any type of transportation available and a fraction of the cost.
The garage will be my hobby workshop.

 

[HopCar]

What would a driverless car race be like?

 

[denverd0n]

Driverless cars are going to be a big employment disrupter and some of those industries are not going to go away without a lot of kicking and screaming (but they will be going away).

I think so, too. I just think that it is not going to happen nearly as soon as a lot of people are predicting.

 

[RT Firefly]

Mr. HC...

 

[HopCar]

Rufus, Good one!
What if you programmed the cars to always try to pass the car in front of them?

 

[RT Firefly]

 

[HopCar]

Thanks RT, I needed a good laugh.

 

[GFC]

There was an article in this morning's Phoenix paper that Waymo is going to start a driverless car program in the Phoenix area with "thousands" of Chrysler Pacifica mini vans.


Crash city here we come.

 

[BandB]

There was an article in this morning's Phoenix paper that Waymo is going to start a driverless car program in the Phoenix area with "thousands" of Chrysler Pacifica mini vans.


Crash city here we come.

Wifey B: Well, Phoenix needs a new nickname. Hope they learn from the bike sharing. These vehicles still have to be parked somewhere and not piled up. Hubby showed me an article about bike sharing in Dallas. All these companies competing. Bikes everywhere except where then need them. At least they can have the car move somewhere else.

 

[HopCar]

Wifey B: Well, Phoenix needs a new nickname. Hope they learn from the bike sharing. These vehicles still have to be parked somewhere and not piled up. Hubby showed me an article about bike sharing in Dallas. All these companies competing. Bikes everywhere except where then need them. At least they can have the car move somewhere else.

We obviously need driverless bicycles!
Seriously I don’t understand how these bike sharing things work. What if you ride one to the grocery store and someone else takes it while you’re shopping? There you are with a big bag of groceries and no bike to ride home. I’m obviously missing something.

There seem to be two systems. The first one has bike stations where you pick up and leave the bike. I see how that works. In the second type the bikes are just left anywhere. It’s this second type that is in my neighborhood. You never know where an ugly yellow bike will show up.

 

[MYTraveler]

The future is here now. My S Tesla is fully self driving now. It scares me though, so I only use it when I want a thrill. Although the acceleration on that thing is thrill enough. A friend of mine is very comfortable letting his drive.

 

[BandB]

The future is here now. My S Tesla is fully self driving now. It scares me though, so I only use it when I want a thrill. Although the acceleration on that thing is thrill enough. A friend of mine is very comfortable letting his drive.

I assume it's the updated Autopilot version? Not yet the driverless version, although close to it? Basically doesn't require a driver but one better be there.

 

[MYTraveler]

I assume it's the updated Autopilot version? Not yet the driverless version, although close to it? Basically doesn't require a driver but one better be there.

You need to keep your hands on the wheel, but only because Tesla added that "feature" after people started taking naps. It does everything, statistically better than human drivers. But I still don't trust it. And as for updates, Tesla frequently updates the software and the car has built in internet connectivity that Tesla manages remotely.

One of the internet features is that you can start your car without the key by using the app. Well, some guy in Las Vegas drove out to the desert, intentionally without his key, pulled over to the side, got out and stretched his legs, then found that his car wouldn't start (start is a misnomer, as the motor doesn't idle -- in reality, the car wouldn't move) because no key. But he was so far out in the middle of no where that there was no internet access. He blamed Tesla.

 

[ssobol]

We obviously need driverless bicycles!
Seriously I don’t understand how these bike sharing things work. What if you ride one to the grocery store and someone else takes it while you’re shopping? There you are with a big bag of groceries and no bike to ride home. I’m obviously missing something.

There seem to be two systems. The first one has bike stations where you pick up and leave the bike. I see how that works. In the second type the bikes are just left anywhere. It’s this second type that is in my neighborhood. You never know where an ugly yellow bike will show up.

These standless bike sharing companies are all over China. They have millions of bikes. They appear in the spring and are removed in winter. In cities anyway, bikes are all over the place. Yes, some get damaged and some go missing, but that is the cost of doing business. There are crews that drive around to in trucks to recover the abandoned bikes. There is now a good sized industry of bike repair to service the bikes.

Some of the bike rental companies are valued in the billions of dollars.

In places in the US where they have tried this, people keep stealing the bikes.

 

[BandB]

You need to keep your hands on the wheel, but only because Tesla added that "feature" after people started taking naps. It does everything, statistically better than human drivers. But I still don't trust it. And as for updates, Tesla frequently updates the software and the car has built in internet connectivity that Tesla manages remotely.

One of the internet features is that you can start your car without the key by using the app. Well, some guy in Las Vegas drove out to the desert, intentionally without his key, pulled over to the side, got out and stretched his legs, then found that his car wouldn't start (start is a misnomer, as the motor doesn't idle -- in reality, the car wouldn't move) because no key. But he was so far out in the middle of no where that there was no internet access. He blamed Tesla.

Wifey B: We test drove one and it freaks you out at first. You just can't believe it will do it right. But it does and you just think....well, can't type those words here. We have a Roadster on order and who knows how far the technology will advance by then.

It's like the safety features on our Sprinter and at first you think of them as a bit of a novelty but when backing or parking something it's size, makes it wonderful and the other features on the road. You're safer. Simple.

You've all seen the tv commercials with the cars stopping before a collision. You think of it as overly dramatic, but it's not really. The features are real. It works.

 

[MYTraveler]

Wifey B: We test drove one and it freaks you out at first. You just can't believe it will do it right. But it does and you just think....well, can't type those words here. We have a Roadster on order and who knows how far the technology will advance by then.

It's like the safety features on our Sprinter and at first you think of them as a bit of a novelty but when backing or parking something it's size, makes it wonderful and the other features on the road. You're safer. Simple.

You've all seen the tv commercials with the cars stopping before a collision. You think of it as overly dramatic, but it's not really. The features are real. It works.

Not scientific, but I know of several Teslas that have been rear ended and none that have rear ended another car, which I attribute to the Tesla's built-in braking that makes a front end collision virtually impossible, but that brakes so suddenly and forcefully that it will can easily catch the driver of the car behind by surprise. The moral of the story is, never tailgate a Tesla unless you are in a Tesla.

I passed on the opportunity (which, at the time, was supposedly limited to a small group of existing Tesla owners) to order a Roadster, in part because of the price -- the $50K non-refundable deposit would have been enough to deter me, but the indefinite price (except over $250K + options) and delivery time frame made it a show stopper for me. Besides, I don't really need to go 0-60 in under 2 seconds. Under 4 is good enough for me.

 

[BandB]

I passed on the opportunity (which, at the time, was supposedly limited to a small group of existing Tesla owners) to order a Roadster, in part because of the price -- the $50K non-refundable deposit would have been enough to deter me, but the indefinite price (except over $250K + options) and delivery time frame made it a show stopper for me. Besides, I don't really need to go 0-60 in under 2 seconds. Under 4 is good enough for me.

Wifey B: Yes, but need a convertible. We were thinking of buying a Spider before they dropped them. Roadster just is going to be like super cool. We don't need it but can't resist.

 

[alormaria]

I assume then you'd never fly on a plane either?

There is absolutely no comparison between the two.

 

[alormaria]

I just read an article about a "driverless" car cutting off and running over a motorcycle.

The computer said it didn't see the motorcycle.

Now where have I heard that one before?

 

[BaltimoreLurker]

Bring on the driverless (and ownerless) car.

When I was between 14 and 24 years old, my vehicle was everything. I lavished it with money, time and love. It was an extension of my persona. Now, a car is a method of getting from A to B. I look forward to not owning a car, but having any type of transportation available and a fraction of the cost.
The garage will be my hobby workshop.

Same here. I hope to never have to buy another vehicle. The pickup for chores, and the Honda for regular transportation, and that's it. Both may outlast me if they aren't wrecked.