A Robo-Car Just Drove Across the Country

Press2ToContinue writes with this news from Wired: Nine days after leaving San Francisco, a blue car packed with tech from a company you've probably never heard of rolled into New York City after crossing 15 states and 3,400 miles to make history. The car did 99 percent of the driving on its own, yielding to the carbon-based life form behind the wheel only when it was time to leave the highway and hit city streets. This amazing feat, by the automotive supplier Delphi, underscores the great leaps this technology has taken in recent years, and just how close it is to becoming a part of our lives. Yes, many regulatory and legislative questions must be answered, and it remains to be seen whether consumers are ready to cede control of their cars, but the hardware is, without doubt, up to the task." That last one percent is a bear, though.

Comments

I wonder

[justthinkit]

I wonder what long distance truck drivers are thinking right about now.

Re:I wonder

[Anubis IV]

So, I want to be clear about my intent here. I'm not trying to suggest that driver-less trucks are infeasible. On the contrary, I agree with what I would assume is your belief as well: that driver-less trucks will be the future. I'm merely pointing out that the problem is much harder than you're giving it credit for. Moreover, your latest response is trivializing a complicated situation by suggesting that a handful of trite answers are sufficient to address it.

For instance, we currently lack a nationwide network of stations that offer full-service for your trucks. It's certainly doable, but so far as I know it's not currently in place, and that's one of the simpler problems to address.

Your notion that a padlock and camera is sufficient to deter theft falls apart when we consider all of the flatbed trailers out there, or the fact that we live in a world where bolt cutters and masks exist. As it is, I see flatbeds loaded with lumber, steel pipes, and all manner of other material go by regularly, with the only things stopping me from stealing them being a trucker and my sense of what's right.

And I wasn't talking about who pays for lost cargo when I asked about unsecured loads (yes, that would be the insurer). I was asking who gets charged with manslaughter when the aforementioned steel pipes come loose and impale the passengers in the car following your truck. My family once had to swerve around one of these tires after it came loose from a flatbed. Trucks are pulled over all the time for violations in properly securing their loads, and that's despite the fact that the driver is currently held legally responsible for it. Heaven help us if it's a corporate drone three states removed who may or may not be traceable.

And what phone numbers would the folks at the weigh station call? Do we require trucking companies to register themselves in a national database, or do we just let them paint it on the side of the truck? Who do they call if the paint has faded? How do they tell the truck to pull off to the side of the weigh station while they wait for a human to arrive to deal with any problems that can't be answered over the phone?

Again, I agree that all of these issues are solvable, but suggesting that your trite answers are sufficient is doing a disservice to the people working on the technological, political, and economic issues surrounding the subject.

Re:Also happened in 1995

[ShanghaiBill]

And in all that time they still cannot make a car that can drive itself in inclement weather

Not everyone has weather. I live in California. It doesn't snow here, and a few years ago, it stopped raining as well.