SavageGeese: Driverless cars are a scam
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 9:36 am
This seems to be the winning logic against self-driving cars, in my opinion. Another random example would be kid running across the road and you cannot stop in time - swerve into oncoming traffic likely saving the kid's life? Just go full ABS and hope for the best? Swerve the other way? Is there even a right answer?Caleb Riechman--I am not a fan of taking my hands off the steering wheel but, I can see how computer control could keep traffic moving much more smoothly in big-city rush hour traffic. Anyone who has experienced the stop and go, 10 mph lurch and jerk out of LA would agree that computers would help. But when traffic is flowing normally and at higher speeds, I'll take my chances with the good old human brain which can think outside the box. There may be times when it's better to climb the guard rail or put it in the ditch and wreck the car but live. If Captain Sullivan had left the driving to his onboard computer, the East River would not have been on the short list of landing zones. And a whole lot of people would be dead.
A secondary but related issue is of car insurance. For a while, you'll need it to potentially cover against a human who hits your self-driving car, or vandalism or theft. But what happens in a collision between two self-driving cars?