GM Says Driverless Cars Will Be Ready By 2018

Gregor Stipicic writes "Cars that drive themselves — even parking at their destination — could be ready for sale within a decade, General Motors Corp. executives say. 'This is not science fiction,' Larry Burns, GM's vice president for research and development, said in a recent interview. GM plans to use an inexpensive computer chip and an antenna to link vehicles equipped with driverless technologies. The first use likely would be on highways; people would have the option to choose a driverless mode while they still would control the vehicle on local streets, Burns said. He said the company plans to test driverless car technology by 2015 and have cars on the road around 2018."

Comments

Re:Good

[Rei]

This line cracked me up -- since those four groups are the primary users of public transportation

Not around here. Around here, the primary users are the able-bodied poor.

Those are the groups that are the least likely to a) be capable of driving, and b) be able to afford the cost of owning, maintaining, insuring, and fueling a vehicle.

And, more importantly, walking several blocks to the nearest bus stop multiple times on each trip. I have a good friend with muscular dystrophy. She drives a car. The concept of her walking everywhere to catch busses, especially in winter, is almost laughably bad.

Healthy adults are the people who take transit the least, for the simple reason that they're the ones that can afford cars and have both the mental acumen and physical health necessary to operate them.

Tell that to gardeners, construction workers, factory workers, and all other "manual laborers". Tell them how wealthy they are. Go on. Because, at least around here, those are the sort of people you see on the bus. Them and students.

That's what an iPod and a book are for.

How nice for you that this is all you need to be unaware of everyone else around you.

Even the most obnoxious of the homeless insane wont try to talk to someone protected by such an overpowering barrier of leave-me-the-fuck-alone.

Funny, because I've had, on multiple occasions, homeless insane (or at least seemingly homeless and insane) people carry on one-sided conversations with me for my entire ride on the bus while I'm programming on my laptop the hole time, and I don't even ride it that often.

The grocery is that close, but you can't walk?

I don't know about you, but I don't exactly feel like needlessly losing 40 minutes of my day a twice a week and carrying back half a dozen bags of groceries weighing dozens of pounds total (sometimes more) in my arms. Or should I tow a little red wagon with me? Any more annoyances you'd like to pile onto my life for no particular reason?

that means your grocery store is at most 1.5 miles away. A reasonably healthy person can walk that in about 15 minutes.

It's actually 1.3 miles, 4 minutes drive, according to google

I'm sorry but 6 miles per hour is not a "walk". That's jogging. So, now what am I to picture -- you want me to jog with a dozen bags of groceries in my arm? What's next -- do you want me to juggle and play harmonica at the same time?

Anyone who's actually used public transportation at all (as opposed to the people who go around making up bullshit about how unsuited it is for everyone except healthy adults) knows that for short trips, it's usually easier to walk.

Um, excuse me, but I used to ride the bus daily. Don't lecture me about "anyone who's actually used public transportation".

Youths generally can't afford cars, so they depend on public transit.

I said the "young". As in children. As in "American parents don't typically want their kids riding alone on a bus and would rather just drop them off somewhere".

The elderly frequently can't afford cars and are often incapable of driving, so they depend on public transit.

If they're incapable of driving, I bet walking a dozen blocks with groceries in their arms is a blast, isn't it?

Not owning a car is a sign of being poor, not elderly.

The disabled are one of the lowest income groups in any society, especially American society with its disdain for social services. Do you really think that they can afford cars?

My friend Cathy has one. It's a junker probably worth less than a thousand dollars, but it drives just fine. It's fitted with hand controls so she can run it properly. Before she was able to get that car, she was part of a car co-op. Again, think for a second: person who can hardly walk, and you want her to *carry things* for *several blocks* each way to get to a bus stop? That's positively ludicrous.

Not to mention the fact that many disabilities directly prevent people from driving.

You really don't know anyone who's disabled, do you?