Will it be possible to send a car without a driver from point A to point B?

[Renew Deal]

Will the gov't permit driverless cars to operate without an attendant in the vehicle?
Will I be able to send a car from point a to point b?
Will I be able to summon my car to pick me up?
If I park the car in a spot, can I summon it to pick me up?
If the car uses gas, will it be possible to fill up without an operator in the vehicle?
Will there be a way to pay for gas at a full service station if there is no driver?

Some stuff to think about...

[whatthehey]

1. Only the auto-fuel is not fairly imminent

Lots of details to iron out but the technology is pretty close.

[onehandle]

2. Possible? Sure. Soon? Nope. Widespread? Not for decades. nt

[Renew Deal]

3. I don't count on the decades thing

These things move fast once they get started

[onehandle]

5. Yeah. When they developed flying cars in the last century, I was skeptical.

But today they fill the sky!

In 1940, Henry Ford famously predicted: "Mark my word: a combination airplane and motorcar is coming. You may smile, but it will come.”

[Renew Deal]

6. There was no progress on it at the time

Some of the self-driving cars are already on the road. We're much further along.

[onehandle]

7. Of course. The technology exists and it works.

But regulatory parameters and acceptance on main street America will keep it a PR fad for decades.

Sure, there might be dozens on highways and in New York City and San Francisco within a few years.

But one high profile crash into a group of nuns walking down the street (it Will Happen) and volumes of more red tape, skepticism of viability, and public outcry will appear.

[LanternWaste]

11. Hence, the migration of computers from labs to the home in merely 35 years.

Hence, the migration of computers from labs to the home in merely 35 years. Should this follow the same trajectory, self-driving cars in 2050.

[angrychair]

4. Services like Uber

And Enterprise and companies like Google and Apple and Microsoft are going to push this technology hard...I imagine it becoming mainstream in less than 10 years.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. Eventually, yes.

I'm not about to predict when, because it's going to depend on all sorts of things, mainly exactly what technology is used.

The recent prediction that by 2025 no one will own cars because it will be so easy to summon one of the driverless cars is ludicrous, however. Maybe in the largest cities in this country, but in small towns or rural areas? No.

[Renew Deal]

9. That brings up another interesting idea

What if cars can remember your settings? So as soon as you get in it fully customizes to your preferences and services. Then here's almost no need to own the car. Just need a clean one to show up.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

10. They have that.

http://www.autotrader.com/car-news/infiniti-q50-remembers-its-driver-212281

Remembers seat, temp, and radio settings based on who's in the driver's seat.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

19. So long as it's always a small vehicle with a stick shift

I'd be fine.

[MicaelS]

12. You missed an important point.

What are the insurance companies going to do about driverless cars?

[bluesbassman]

14. Brings up a critical element: Who has liability?

Someone has to own the vehicle, and will that owner be liable for any damage or injury the vehicle may cause while operating autonomously? It'll be very interesting to see how lawyers deal with that angle.

[MiniMe]

20. I would imagine that there will be a new type of policy from the insurance industry

Many states, Maryland is one, require insurance of all cars. I would also guess that insurance to cover the self driving cars will be very expensive at first, until they get a track record on how they do.

[Egnever]

15. It is a big problem for them

And they are in a bit of a panic about it.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-agenda-driverless-insurance-20160620-snap-story.html

But KPMG estimates that over the next 25 years, the number of accidents could plunge 80% from current levels, which “will go right to the core of the business” of providing car insurance, said Jerry Albright, a KPMG principal also on the task force.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway Corp. owns Geico insurance, told an automotive forum last year that “we would not be throwing a party at our insurance business” when self-driving cars arrive, even though that day remained “a long ways off.”

If it turns out that the automakers and their suppliers end up shouldering most of the liability, they might offer insurance themselves, said Donald Light, director of the North American property/casualty practice at the research firm Celent. They might even add the insurance premium to the sticker price of new cars.

“That’s another big threat to the current insurance industry,” Light said.

[MicaelS]

16. And I missed that completely.

Wow, that is something to think about.

[workinclasszero]

13. In ten years you will be able to not own a car in any urban area in America

You will be able to subscribe to a service that will send a self driving car to your door when you need to go someplace.

No auto insurance, no gas, no maintenance bills, no huge monthly car payment. Just one fee for the service like your cell phone bill.

If I live that long I will welcome not having to deal with personal transportation costs anymore.

[sarcasmo]

17. When the hacker takes control of the self driving car?

[Xithras]

18. There was a demonstration in San Francisco last year...

Driverless car pulled up in front of a destination. Driver hopped out. Car drove off, found an empty parking spot a few blocks away and parked itself. A few minutes later the driver pulled out his phone and hit a button in an app to summon the car. It left the parking spot and drove right back to the front of the building to pick him up.

The technology exists already. It's just a matter of working out the laws and liabilities to make it practical.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

21. Yes,

but you might not like the results!

[Volaris]

22. As soon as the answer to (any of) those questions is 'yes'

Cars will be used as drug mules and self driving, self exploding assassination platforms.

Aren't we clever?

[Renew Deal]

23. Should we ban all cars?