self drive cars...

[danseen]

What if the circuitry and/or firmware gets shot on them and they hit somebody?

Who should be culpable?

 

[prplchknz]

depends if there's a fail safe that if that happened it would go to manual and the person in the drivers seat could take over. or I presume if the company is smart they would install something on the car that if anything like that happened the car would automatically shut off.

 

[indra]

The auto manufacturer, just like when an ignition switch fails and your power steering goes out and you careen into oncoming traffic.

Shit happens eh

 

[sprinkles]

I almost got decapitated by a detached muffler once. Seen tires explode and send trucks off the road too. Not too worried about some circuits.

 

[prplchknz]

I almost got decapitated by a detached muffler once. Seen tires explode and send trucks off the road too. Not too worried about some circuits.

can we name it number 5?

 

[sprinkles]

can we name it number 5?

That's be funny if a car was like Johnny 5.

I just realized I didn't actually answer the question of the thread. Who would be culpable depends on how foreseeable and correctable the problem is. Nobody is really culpable for a broken tie rod for example because accidents just happen. I live on a busy road and have seen a lot of near misses. One time some old ladies in a minivan had a front wheel come loose and snap the lugs off and they were lucky to go into the ditch instead of oncoming traffic.

 

[Cygnus]

God, I hope they're outlawed. I love driving.



Damn the day when a man can no longer guide the direction of his own vehicle or his own feet.

 

[Kullervo]

What if the circuitry and/or firmware gets shot on them and they hit somebody?

Who should be culpable?

I strongly believe that self-driving cars take all the fun out of driving. Still, such cars could make driving a more pleasant experience for dreamy women, tourists, geriatrics and more importantly, everybody else who has to share a highway with them...

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

[sprinkles]

I highly doubt there will ever be a car that doesn't have a manual mode so I wouldn't worry about it. It'd make stuff like improvised parking or going off roads impossible and GPS maps don't always keep up with development. Last time I went through Indiana on a new road it showed us driving through corn fields and shit.

 

[Chthonic]

I predict the cars safety features will make them a PITA to be in since it will probably cause the vehicle to sit chonically below speed limits, stop for every minor article on the road, and resist overtaking in all except circumstances were the object in front is practically stationary. On the plus side you can probably have a fully lie lat sleeper which means you can doze off for the additional 7hrs it will take you to arrive at your destination.

 

[indra]

God, I hope they're outlawed. I love driving.



Damn the day when a man can no longer guide the direction of his own vehicle or his own feet.

I already have fantasies of tearing up the streets in a 2018 Hellcat while the vast majority are puttering around in all-electric automatons

I also though do wish for a bubble car completely featureless on the inside, with a curved screen wrapped around the interior and grass flooring. I'll smoke joints making laps on the loop and stop off at bars for whiskey and Shiner.

 

[sprinkles]

I predict the cars safety features will make them a PITA to be in since it will probably cause the vehicle to sit chonically below speed limits, stop for every minor article on the road, and resist overtaking in all except circumstances were the object in front is practically stationary. On the plus side you can probably have a fully lie lat sleeper which means you can doze off for the additional 7hrs it will take you to arrive at your destination.

Nah, one of the first things to have self driving will probably be transport services and they're going to do everything they can to make sure things arrive on time because it costs money.

Car culture will be the last thing effected. If you're a trucker or cab driver you better watch out for your job.