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Nissan Plans To Sell Self-Driving Cars By 2020
Lucas123 writes "Nissan today said it will begin demonstrating autonomous vehicle technology on its all-electric Leaf this year, and plans to begin selling multiple models of self-driving cars by 2020. Nissan said it's already building an autonomous drive proving ground in Japan. Its goal is availability across the model range within two vehicle generations. The car company, which is among several others and Google in developing autonomous driving tech, is currently working with top universities, including MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Oxford and The University of Tokyo, to develop its self-drive technology."
No more tailgating, left lane hogging, pulling out without indicating, running red lights, drunk driving or any of that other stuff the meat-based drivers keep on doing.
Free up the roads for people who don't see driving as a chore and make an effort to drive properly.
No sig today...
So because the car's going to follow the law, you're upset?
"Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
This is a better headline. To those of us over 35, we have been trained to think of 2020 as a long time from now.
Cars in the left lane are supposed to follow the law too.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
You are causing the accidents. YOU are rushing. YOU are driving unsafe. YOU are risking other behind you.
It's not everyone else fault you can't get to work on time. If you cant control it, then you should have your license revoked until you have attended anger management classes.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
There is no rule that says the left lane is for speeding.
The left lane is NOT a speeding lane. It is not you personal driving lane. It is not their responsibility that you can't drive legally.
Suck it up and stop causing accident, you jerk.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I would recommend autonomous car makers stay out of the litigious US market initially, and focus their initial launch on some place like Singapore.
It has:
1) No Snow, which is still causes difficult problem for autonomous vehicles.
2) Highly structured environment. It is a nation that essentially consists of a single, highly-organized city.
3) That single city has a government that operates as a sovereign entity, and can adapt its legal framework to accommodate the cars.
4) That sovereign entity has demonstrated itself to be business friendly (sometimes at the expense of the individual).
5) Has car owners who are accustomed to accepting extensive government regulation and oversight.
Much as I would love the idea of having a self-driving car myself, I can't see how such a thing is compatible with American Society.
Autonomous cars still have a minimum stopping distance, and it would be unwise for an autonomous car to tailgate even another autonomous car since unexpected situations which can force an emergency brake (such as a child running out onto the road) can still arise. If the car ahead had to stop unexpectedly, a distance of only a few centimeters would not be sufficient for your own vehicle to safely stop in time, even though you've taken human reaction time entirely out of the equation. I expect, instead, that minimum car spacing may still be reduced... but still somehow be a function of the posted speed limit.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
You're dead wrong. There'll be mass adoption as soon as people figure out you get to watch TV or go on Facebook while you're on your way to work,
Any company that has to pay drivers (taxis, buses, trucks, airport shuttles...) will also be straining at the leash waiting for this to happen. As soon as it's approved, all their drivers will be out on their asses. The companies will save so much money on wages, fuel, insurance, etc. that switching to robots will be the only way to stay competitive.
Add in the old people who can't pass the driver's medical and you're looking at a switchover measured in months for a big chunk of the population.
No sig today...
Freight hauling would be a great use-case for these ... no mandatory rest periods which means much more effective use of time getting from location to location. If larger roads had dedicated freight lanes where the effective speed limit could be lower, then the extra "drive time" could be used to conserve fuel and road damage by operating freight vehicles at something a bit lower than typical highway speed.
"Flame away, I wear asbestos underwear"
If I go the speed limit in my area, I'll get rear ended. The speed limts in my area's highway are set 10mph lower than average people actually go, seemingly put in as a way for cops to rake in cash.
The highway speeds in my state are pretty much the same as the rest of the country as far as I've seen when driving across it: 65-70 MPH on long interstates between cities, 55 MPH on interstates in urban areas, and 45 MPH on "highways" that actually have businesses along the side of them. I've been in 23 states, and I haven't really seen any that deviate much from that -- except mountainous areas and parts of Utah (where it's 80 MPH). The difference isn't the posted numbers; the difference is the enforcement and the driving culture.
Where I live, no one is going to actually hit your car for driving the speed limit. They'll just get on your tail and ride you. As long as you stay out of the left lane, that's probably all you'll ever see. If you don't, you may get flashing headlights or people zipping around you and cutting you off on the way back into the lane. After all, they don't really want to get into an accident either, much less one where they're at fault; they just want to express their displeasure in a passive-aggressive way.
So, I think your fears are a bit overblown there. Stop giving into peer pressure. Or at least, minimize the amount you do give in. I do about 5 over in the right lane, and I only get tailgated maybe about 2-3 times a day. I'm on cruise control, so I just ignore them and get on with my life, and they usually pass eventually.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
"By 2060 it will be illegal for a human to drive a vehicle in the USA".
My prediction made in 2012.
I am a nobody so no one will notice.
A similar prediction made a few years earlier:
"Down in his barn my uncle preserved for me an old machine
For fifty odd years to keep it as new has been his dearest dream
I strip away the old debris that hides a shining car
A brilliant red Barchetta from a better vanished time
I fire up the willing engine responding with a roar
Tires spitting gravel I commit my weekly crime"
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.