Next term worries;Google, Ford, Uber launch coalition to further self-driving cars.

[CK_John]

Alphabet Inc's Google unit (GOOGL.O), Ford Motor Co (F.N), the ride-sharing service Uber [UBER.UL] and two other companies said on Tuesday they are forming a coalition to push for federal action to help speed self-driving cars to market.

Sweden-based Volvo Cars, which is owned by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co GEELY.UL, and Uber rival Lyft also are part of the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets. The group said in a statement it will "work with lawmakers, regulators and the public to realize the safety and societal benefits of self-driving vehicles."

The coalition said David Strickland, the former top official of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the top U.S. auto safety agency that is writing new guidance on self-driving cars, will be the coalition’s counsel and spokesman.

"What people are looking for is clear rules of the road of what needs to be done for (fully autonomous) vehicles to be on the road," Strickland said in an interview Tuesday, emphasizing the companies want to deploy them safely. "Nobody wants to take a shortcut on this."

Read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving-idUSKCN0XN1F1

[whatthehey]

1. Worries? More like hopes.

I surely hope to live long enough that I do not need to waste so much time directing a metal box when I could be reading or working instead, especially as I'll be less likely to be t-boned by a texting teenybopper applying makeup at the same time.

[CK_John]

2. It's the 20 million that will be unemployed that I fear.

[whatthehey]

3. I'm sure the livery stables, ostlers and farriers worried too

But the labor market did not collapse then either.

[PeaceNikki]

4. Agreed. Inattentive and drunk drives can go the way of the dodo, IMHO

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

17. You're the "over ride" driver. You're supposed to be the "non-driver" that takes over the

driverless car when you need to. No reading or working, you'll be on greater alert than if you were driving yourself. Think of all the nincompoops around you not paying attention to what they're doing because they're watching your car drive itself.

But, so what, it's totally cool!

[whatthehey]

22. No - that is at best a stop gap to soothe the needlessly worried.

Overrides are accidents in the making. Computers can do calculations immeasurably faster than us and record far more accurately. Driving is about recording and calculating responses to data. Computers matched with sensors are better equipped than humans.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. I hope to see driverless cars take on ...

... Pike's Peak, Monaco Grand Prix, Daytona, Baja. And be able to deal with road-rage and idiocy on public roads.

I think a driverless car could take on a traffic roundabout with more aplomb than most humans.

At some point in my life, I will no longer be able to drive. I would love to have a car that can take me where I want to go.

[fleabiscuit]

7. +1

[Fumesucker]

10. Pike's Peak was done six years ago...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

12. That's outstanding! That a driverless car can handle an unpaved road.

There is hope for bad roads without lines, snow-covered roads, etc.

[fleabiscuit]

6. They promised me flying cars! If I can't have flying cars I'll settle for self-driving ones. nt

[hunter]

8. I'll be happy when the age of private automobiles is over.

It was a horrible mistake with severe adverse environmental and social consequences.

[kentauros]

9. The only major concern I've seen for not owning the vehicle

is that there will always be those who wish to vandalize the vehicle while they are riding in it. So, there may have to be some form of surveillance or vandalism-activated surveillance to keep such vehicles in good working order.

Probably have to have other interior sensors in place, too, for when the vehicle needs an interior cleaning, including from human 'accidents.'

[Throd]

11. It will never be over.

People (like me) enjoy the convenience too much.

[hunter]

13. What convenience? Especially in places where parking is already tight.

Rural areas will have cars.

Elsewhere ride services called up on smart phones will dominate.

Watching my kids navigate San Francisco has been an eye-opening experience for me.

I remember times I've spent forty minutes looking for a parking place in San Francisco, spaces that were inevitably time restricted. And then having to repeat the process if the people I was with decided to go to Berkeley or something.

My children, nieces, and nephews move around the city without a care, unchained to a car, using their smart phones and a combination of Uber, friends, and public transportation. Some of them are also Uber drivers.

I don't like the Uber model, they screw their drivers in many ways, but it's a mode of transportation that exists now and will be easily expanded to self-driving vehicles.

[Throd]

16. Owning a car in 'Frisco is a form of punishment.

No argument from me on that.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. Parking? Who needs parking?

Drop me off at that restaurant, my dear driverless car. Then drive slowly around the block until you see the charge hit my credit card, then come pick me up.

The streets will fill with driverless cars, wandering aimlessly, waiting for the command to collect their owner.

Keep driving, my dear driverless car, I've decided to take in a movie and then the ball game. Better go fill yourself with gas, too.

Life will be grand.

[hunter]

20. It won't be your driverless car...

... it will belong to Ford, Google, Apple, or some other corporate giant.

While you are eating at the restaurant or enjoying the ball game the car will be off shuttling other customers around, or charging itself when customers are scarce.

But that's not my vision of utopia.

Walking ought to be the most common daily form of transportation; walking to work, walking to the grocery store, walking to a restaurant. Cities and the higher density suburbs ought to be friendlier to pedestrians; so friendly that few people choose to bother with the expenses and irritations of car ownership.

[FLPanhandle]

14. I think the idea of self driving cars on demand via a smartphone is more convenient

No driving, no maintenance, no car payments, no car insurance, no washing & waxing, no driving.

There is a reason Uber is such a big hit. It's convenience.

[Throd]

15. Not if you live in a non-urban area.

If I need to take my daughter to the hospital I don't want to wait for a robot.

I understand that driving isn't for everybody and that some people are unable to, but I actually enjoy driving.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

19. +1. I enjoy driving, too.

But someday that will be beyond my capability, if I'm fortunate enough to live that long.

[AngryAmish]

21. A friend of mine has a Tesla

Those things are insanely fast.

Anyway, they have an autopilot feature. He lives 15 miles via highway to work. Once he gets it on the highway the car does the rest. He texts, reads his phone etc.

Technology IU s here.

[Motown_Johnny]

23. "Driving is a sacred bond between a vehicle and it's driver."

Then after a clear majority of the country wants autonomous vehicles, that position will "evolve" (without any clear rationalization).


Next term worry solved.

[Odin2005]

24. As somebody who can't drive, driverless cars can't come soon enough.