Driverless cars set to roll out for trials on UK roads

[TomandJerry]

Giving the idea that someone can hack into your car and reprogram its destination/speed or whatever is very concering, all sorts of trouble could occur

 

[sten_super]

thats very interesting angle on it, i've only ever read and considered the technology. i'd wager this has just killed off the driver less car, or at least substantially limited its appeal. people arent going to want to pay an annual fee to own a car (i know they do effectively, its about perceptions).

People already pay at least two annual fees associated with car ownership - Vehicle Excise Duty and insurance. I don't think adding one more is going to be a major problem, particularly if it's (at least partly) offset by a reduction in insurance (as personal insurance would presumably cover fire & theft only).

I think a move to a complete leasing system (i.e. you don't own a car but 'summon' one when required and pay per mile), while being more efficient, would put people off. So while this might be the long-term solution, I think in the medium-term people will still want to own their own self-driving car.

 

[Nadger]

Only any use if you can use one for a pre game pub crawl, drop off at the Amex, park up, pick up after several more pints.

Nanny state and bed wetters will not allow you to operate one of these pissed - POINTLESS

 

[Yoda]

The funniest argument against driverless cars is that people don't 'trust' computers, as they 'eventually' make mistakes... Unlike humans, who are perfect and never do things like fall asleep at the wheel or drink drive.

And yet they are quite happy to board a plane to fly off on holiday even though they take off, fly them to their destination and land all by the computer. The pilot is there only in-case of an emergency.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

And yet they are quite happy to board a plane to fly off on holiday even though they take off, fly them to their destination and land all by the computer. The pilot is there only in-case of an emergency.

 

[Biscuit]

No more drunk driving? Fewer Accidents? Less congestion? No more tickets? Fine on the surface of it.. ..but what about the real world implications?

I'd hate to tell my car to go home and then I wake up in Rome. Or to wake up after a heavy night out and find myself in a car being driven halfway across the country. These issues need addressing.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

No more drunk driving? Fewer Accidents? Less congestion? No more tickets? Fine on the surface of it.. ..but what about the real world implications?

I'd hate to tell my car to go home and then I wake up in Rome. Or to wake up after a heavy night out and find myself in a car being driven halfway across the country. These issues need addressing.

Ideal excuse for being late to work though, so...every cloud...

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

For this to work, wouldn't we ALL have to change over to driverless cars at the exact same time?

You couldn't have some driverless cars and some self-driven cars on the road at the same time? A lot of driving is human interaction. Giving way, letting people out into queues of traffic etc etc...That would be MAYHEM with some computer/some human-led cars interacting with each other.

Have I missed something here?

 

[studio150]

It will provide greater mobility for an aging polutation as no medical licence requirements. The big bonus will be locally as no reason why the greens need to insist on 20mph limits or cycle lanes as the driverless vehicle has anti collision technology.

 

[Badger]

Are they going to give the driverless cars characteristics based on who owns them? For example, will all driverless BMWs go charging into the outside line, tailgate everyone and fail to use the indicators? Will a driverless Honda Jazz permanently go at 40mph regardless of the speed limit and brake whenever a car goes past in the opposite direction?

 

[Pavilionaire]

This is an alcoholics's dream.

 

[Kosh]

I notice that during the turgid coverage on the BBC this morning that the 'first stage' will be these driver-less pavement style shuttles, that stop when any passing pedestrians get in the way... genius. Only middle class scientists could possibly miss the fun drunks, chavs and other scum are going to have 'stopping' these things from moving. You've got to love the naive way in which we 'blue sky' these ideas. Fit them with machine guns and audio warning systems i.e. move or die and they might just work.

It's either going to go West World or Demolition Man... I guess time will tell.

Kosh

 

[Pavilionaire]

Women will love them, that's the parking problem solved.

 

[Gwylan]

My view is that an annual fee will be accepted among new car buyers but once the car is 3rd/4th hand things will start to get a bit iffy.

I think a move to a complete leasing system (i.e. you don't own a car but 'summon' one when required and pay per mile), while being more efficient, would put people off. So while this might be the long-term solution, I think in the medium-term people will still want to own their own self-driving car.

I'd hate to tell my car to go home

Are they going to give the driverless cars characteristics based on who owns them?

As I pointed out earlier, people are completely barking up the wrong tree here. Individuals won't own driverless cars - that's not the point. The lead in this area is Google, a company that's all about delivering services, not products. You log on to Gmail, you don't have a mail server sitting in the corner of the room.

And as I said earlier, this isn't necessarily about the technology, this will be about insurance, about mixed use - as Mejona points out, there will be confusion with driven cars and driverless ones on the road. My feeling is that the tax on driven cars will rise and rise until owning one will be hellishly expensive and 99% of the vehicles on the road will be driverless.

There has been plenty written about driverless cars but none of the thinking is about mass ownership. There are too many Luddites on here, the future will look very different

http://www.vox.com/2014/5/28/5758560/driverless-cars-will-mean-the-end-of-car-ownership

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/01/google-self-driving-pods-end-of-road-car-ownership

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Women will love them, that's the parking problem solved.

I bet I can park cars as well as you

 

[Badger]

As I pointed out earlier, people are completely barking up the wrong tree here. Individuals won't own driverless cars - that's not the point. The lead in this area is Google, a company that's all about delivering services, not products. You log on to Gmail, you don't have a mail server sitting in the corner of the room.

And as I said earlier, this isn't necessarily about the technology, this will be about insurance, about mixed use - as Mejona points out, there will be confusion with driven cars and driverless ones on the road. My feeling is that the tax on driven cars will rise and rise until owning one will be hellishly expensive and 99% of the vehicles on the road will be driverless.

There has been plenty written about driverless cars but none of the thinking is about mass ownership. There are too many Luddites on here, the future will look very different

http://www.vox.com/2014/5/28/5758560/driverless-cars-will-mean-the-end-of-car-ownership

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/01/google-self-driving-pods-end-of-road-car-ownership

I'm not sure if you noticed but my post wasn't exactly serious.

 

[Return of the Rev]

" prototype driverless cars to be tested in the heart of four British cities are unveiled on Wednesday, with the government claiming the nation is uniquely placed to lead the development of the technology.

An autonomous shuttle traversing the North Greenwich plaza beside O₂ Arena will mark a small but significant step on the way to what ministers and engineers hope will be a safer, less-congested, driverless future.

The projects we are now funding in Greenwich, Bristol, Milton Keynes and Coventry will help to ensure we are world-leaders in this field and able to benefit from what is expected to be a £900bn industry by 2025,” he said."


What are NSC'S thoughts on driverless cars?

wouldn't happen in germany

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

I bet I can park cars as well as you

Is he not very good?

 

[Gwylan]

I'm not sure if you noticed but my post wasn't exactly serious.

You can never tell

But you do raise an interesting point: in a world where no-one owns a car, how do companies market them? What's the difference between calling up a car from Acme Motors and Fly-by-Night Inc? That will be one of the biggest problems facing manufacturers: I'm not sure how it will play out

 

[sten_super]

As I pointed out earlier, people are completely barking up the wrong tree here. Individuals won't own driverless cars - that's not the point. The lead in this area is Google, a company that's all about delivering services, not products. You log on to Gmail, you don't have a mail server sitting in the corner of the room.

And as I said earlier, this isn't necessarily about the technology, this will be about insurance, about mixed use - as Mejona points out, there will be confusion with driven cars and driverless ones on the road. My feeling is that the tax on driven cars will rise and rise until owning one will be hellishly expensive and 99% of the vehicles on the road will be driverless.

There has been plenty written about driverless cars but none of the thinking is about mass ownership. There are too many Luddites on here, the future will look very different

Think you may have misread my post - that was exactly my point. Driverless cars as a lease-only thing will have much slower take-up than driverless cars with private ownership. If the only business model is lease, then there will be slow takeup, IMHO. At the moment most people are very much used to cars as a personal, private space. I also think there will be supply & demand problems (certainly outside of large urban areas) - people will have to adjust to paying different prices for different times of day (just look at the fuss that there's been over Uber's differential pricing model for an example of 'luddite' reaction).

I agree with you that long term it's a more efficient business model - I just think it's going to take a long time to get everyone thinking in the same way.