Driverless Cars In Michigan.

[Hooter]

Bad enough that everybody and their brother is texting and driving, now Michigan wants to put driverless car's on the road.  It's coming up for vote and it looks like the big wigs are in favor of it. This ought to be interesting to say the least.  Sounds like a law suit to me when the first death occurs to an innocent person. Makes me feel safe!

[indybobm]

Could be an improvement!

[GiG]

This will be the death of motorcycles.
Think about it - when autonomous cars are mandated, there is no way they will allow non autonomous motorcycles to share the roads. 
Ride Free, while you can. It's later than you think 

[Firefighter]

I wonder how it will work out for people. If the cars follow the traffic laws, many people wont like traveling at only the speed limit. Looks like these cars will be in the way on interstate hiways and then following gps routes that take the long way around. Guess when in a hurry the driver, passenger, ugh,,, occupant can override. Wonder if the car pulls over if the gps route has not been updated, like maybe upon Pikes Peak, just a thought.

[hubcapsc]

This will be the death of motorcycles.
Think about it - when autonomous cars are mandated, there is no way they will allow non autonomous motorcycles to share the roads. 
Ride Free, while you can. It's later than you think 

I think the same thing for the same reason.

I think the self driving cars will work great, especially in commuter
traffic, and other important stuff. People like us, having fun, won't
count for anything in that equation... perhaps we can get self driving
cycles to sit on while they zip around...

-Mike

[dreamaker]

Most people think it is cool and say, “I want one”!  One nice thing about the Valkyrie, Insert the key (Although some have already got too lazy to insert a simple key) twists the throttle and cruise.  A self driving car, what crap!  You are being sucked in and paying with your hard earned money to pay for someone’s science projects. Another thing to make us lazier than we are, Next time, you get out of the shower, look at yourself in the mirror and say, “Do I need all that useless technology, maybe that is why I look this way”.   I have a 2013 Focus with Sync, all the useless gimmicks in it, it will be real cool when it comes to repair, at $100+ and hr to repair it. Give me a stripped down vehicle that gets me from point A to point B, simple, watch the road with no distractions, just like the Valk. Stop and think about your car, and think about what is in it that you don’t need, don’t be a sucker! Just my opinion!!
You want a happy life, keep it simple! 

[F-six]

Well, actually, I think that a computer controlled car could be a lot safer for us motorcyclist. Those sensors in these cars will be on the lookout every second. Don't tell me that the calling, texting, sleeping, not paying attention, horrible drivers in a car are so great for motorcyclists, or do you?

 

[Willow]

It's interesting to read over some of the arguments in this thread and ask myself whether some of these same thoughts may have been raised a hundred years ago at the time that technology was bringing on the automobile to replace horse traffic.

Truthfully most traffic deaths and injuries are not the result of technological failure but of operator error.  I don't see it as overnight advancement but it is coming.

There is the issue and decision of whether the future will allow for a mix of automated control with human controlled vehicles.  We don't allow horse traffic on interstates today but they are operated by some on state road shoulders and county roads.

I'm glad I've lived during the time that motorcycles and cars were controlled by humans.  I've enjoyed my time but I do recognize and have experienced the drawback and dangers that technology can reduce.

It's a good time to be old.  Perhaps it's also a good time to be young.     

[dreamaker]

You forgot one variable in your equation, once out there, and wait for the hacker to have their fun. WOW! Let see if we can cut this biker off, and we will Tweet or FB see if we can go viral with it.  I don’t want to wizz in your Wheaties, but there are some, not so nice people out there.  Simple 0’s and 1’s, switch on, switch off.

[Willow]

You forgot one variable in your equation, once out there, and wait for the hacker to have their fun. WOW! Let see if we can cut this biker off, and we will Tweet or FB see if we can go viral with it.  I don’t want to wizz in your Wheaties, but there are some, not so nice people out there.  Simple 0’s and 1’s, switch on, switch off.

I don't think I did.  Perhaps in the current world you or others may have forgotten about drunk, distracted, or angry drivers.

I'm not ready to believe that automated guidance is a complete panacea.  Not even eventually, but certainly not in the near future.  I do believe it holds the real potential to reduce a lot of the dangers we encounter on the roads each day.  Yes it will change how we live and how we travel.  Life has been that way for a while now.

Zeroes and ones?  I'm quite aware.  I've been an assembler and machine lanuage programmer for the past forty years.  I've been employed as a systems programmer for a large mainframe environment for the past thirty years.

Technology advances.  It's the way of life in our world.  It's like I said.  It's a good time to be old and maybe a good time to be young.  Time will tell. 

[Hooter]

Makes me wonder about insuring such an animal? $$$ ?Won't be driver error in the event of an accident. What will LEO put on his accident report form, special form I would guess? What if the driverless vehicle is at fault, who gets the ticket?. Makes one say hmmm.

[cookiedough]

mark my word it is coming but do not agree with it one bit.

electronics fail eventually and then what,  one more accident or death on the books??

[old2soon]

mark my word it is coming but do not agree with it one bit.

electronics fail eventually and then what,  one more accident or death on the books??

                   Built in fudge factor.  The machines gonna take over!  RIDE SAFE.

[Jess from VA]

Makes me wonder about insuring such an animal? $$$ ?Won't be driver error in the event of an accident. What will LEO put on his accident report form, special form I would guess? What if the driverless vehicle is at fault, who gets the ticket?. Makes one say hmmm.

So, I'm sleeping in the backseat (which is the only way I could stand to be in one), and my car is being pulled over.  How does my car know it's being pulled over?  Lights won't wake me up, but a siren probably would.  At this point, I'm not taking over the wheel, because the car is the one who earned the ticket, not me.  So then do I get cited for fleeing and eluding because the car doesn't pull over?

Listen officer, I was sleeping in the backseat, I don't know nothing, and I'm not sayin' nothing.  And I'm advising my car to remain silent too, I'm it's lawyer.      

I wonder if it's OK to be drunk in the back seat?  

They could probably do an entire sitcom on the subject.  

It's all academic anyway, I don't want one and wouldn't own one.

I don't want a self shooting rifle either.  

 

[Oss]

who remembers

My mother the car

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5A0pkzB_TM

I drive a 99 camry with 212000 miles and if I could find one in nice condition I would be in my old 73 monte carlo with even less technology getting a few gas stations per mile  but thats just me

[Hooter]

I'm glad I retired before all of this. I can't imagine walking up to a vehicle I stopped for a traffic offense only to find no driver. Who would you ticket, the car or its passenger?    Ive been thinking about this too much. Guess it's time to move on to something that makes sense.

[Sorcerer]

I hope it works better than my Direct TV. When the storms are 45 miles out it starts acting funky. At the 10 mile mark its blind. I can see the news accounts now, " storm alert, power full thunder storm and wandering self auto cars for the next 3 hours".

[John Schmidt]

Driverless cars.....we've had'em here in Florida for decades, ever since the last road apple was dropped. You know about Florida, right? God's waiting room!    Drive down the street in just about any little town or any of the highways surrounding it and you'll see these "driverless" cars tooling along in the left lane with one of its blinkers going. When you're finally able to pull alongside, you see it actually has a driver....a little cue tip that's so short she/he has to look through the steering wheel and they're totally hidden by the back of the front seat. Often you'll see the car is full of others like the driver and sometimes it's fun to watch, especially if it happens to be a load of gals. Every one of them are gesticulating and you can see their mouth running near warp. Result....everyone is on transmit but not one of them is on receive. Then when I pull next to them at a light when on the Valk, the windows come down and the ladies suddenly revert back 50-60 years. Kinda fun at that point actually, I'll often chat and sometimes whistle, get some giggles back, light changes and off they go in total bliss in their "driverless" car. 

As for the electronic version, not for me....not yet. I enjoy being in control of the vehicle, I'm afraid I'd be trying to push the brake peddle through the floor if not in the left seat.

[Bigwolf]

mark my word it is coming but do not agree with it one bit.

electronics fail eventually and then what,  one more accident or death on the books??

It is coming whether we like it or not.  And much like seat belts and air bags, it will save some lives and take other lives.  Hopefully it will save more than it takes. 

Electronics are so fragile particularly in automotive conditions.  We have already heard of runaway cars and Toyota suffered greatly from that publicity.  I don't believe theirs were the only ones with accelerator problems but maybe theirs were the worst. 

Already, anti lock brakes are failing and causing wrecks in areas where salt/slurry is used to control ice and snow.  When an electronic wheel sensor fails, the brakes will not apply.  The vehicle just keeps rolling.  The wheel sensors are failing from corrosion and the wiring close to the wheel is also subject to damage.

It was a shock to me to realize that most newer cars have electronic steering.  I hated it when they made throttles electronic instead of manual because I believe the driver can make needed adjustments much faster than a computer program.  I sure hope their are no electronic sensors that are subjected to salt and road debris on the steering.

I agree with Willow.  "It is a good time to be old. Perhaps it's also a good time to be young."

[Willow]

I was going to step away from this discussion but a thought occurred to me so I think I'll leave with a parting thought.

Most of us travel from time to time aboard passenger aircraft?  We do realize that many, if not most, airliners travel these days almost entirely by autopilot? 

[old2soon]

Have at least one here in Missouri-my ex B I L-sets the cruise and then "zones"!  Could NOT stand to ride with hm.  RIDE SAFE.

[BradValk48237]

I feel it a good idea and most likely where the future is going...

I does solve the MAJOR problem with almost all cars.....

The DRIVER.....

Ive never been cut off by a parked car... different story with the wrong driver in the car....

B