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Ford Plans a Fleet of Fully Autonomous Cars Operating in a Ride-Hail Service By 2021 (recode.net)
Ford will mass-produce autonomous vehicles without steering wheels by 2021, Ford chief executive Mark Fields said today at the Ford Research and Innovation Center in Palo Alto, California. Recode reports:Fields announced that the company is working toward launching a fleet of commercial, level 4 (one level below a completely autonomous system, in which drivers don't have to be engaged) vehicles in a ride-hail service by 2021. The details of that ride-hail service -- such as which company Ford will partner with to operate it -- still haven't been determined. As part of that effort, Ford is investing in Velodyne, a self-driving tech company, and is working with three other startups. Ford has acquired Israel-based computer vision and machine learning company SAIPS, struck up an exclusive licensing agreement with machine vision company Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC and, as previously announced, invested in 3-D mapping startup Civil Maps.
Thank you for choosing Johnny Cab
Your Car in the Cloud.
Makes sense given the sentiment everyone seems to have about not owning anything these days. Renting living space is way up, companies aren't buying their own computers and data centers anymore, companies don't even own their own core assets like buildings and office furniture. Everything is a creaky tower of outsourcing from the coffee pots to the building management systems.
I'd actually be happier if Ford ended up doing this first instead of Google. I love the idea of a self-driving car, but don't really like the idea of Google having full access to yet another facet of everyone's lives.
(This is not totally all my comment, but based on something I saw on CL of all places)
In olden days when someone was driving their car and had a heart attack and died, the car would veer off the road and just crash. But instead in the age of driverless cars that dead body is simply going to be served up at the destination, albeit somewhat ripe.
Imagine the fun when little Johnny runs out to greet the car that brought his dear granddad to Johnny's birthday party!
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... Introduce cars passengers can't control in 2021, see them crushed by insurance lawsuits in 2022. Unless, of course, they can totally change liability law before that.
Do you have any evidence that their traffic ticket revenue exceeds their budget for traffic enforcement?
Fuel, wear and tear on the cars, high-speed runs out to crash sites, multiple officers required to route traffic around crash sites, etc.
Add to that the administrative overhead of tickets. Sending the summons, processing it through the court system, even getting paid costs money.
Every cop I know would love to not have to walk up on a depreciation, bodies burned in a fire, or child death from an automobile wreck.
I don't know any of them that actually enjoy handing out tickets, but they do it to avoid the aforementioned grizzly scenes.
Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
Yeah, there are rare occasions where companies do fuck people, but nobody is making people push the autopilot button in a Tesla now. The way you framed your question tells me more than I need to know about your political leanings, just in case you care.
How do we know that laws are in need of work? Because we have, and have had for decades, Lawyers who chase ambulances and nitpick to make money and cause harm to consumers and businesses in the process. Since I know you will attempt to fabricate reality by claiming nuh-uh, here is an easy citation.
Laws are a problem, as is rampant ignorance and cowardice.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
In 5 years we still won't have 'fully autonomous, self-driving' cars, they'll still be full of bugs and flaws, and there's no fucking way I'd step into one and have no manual control over direction and speed.
* * * DO NOT WANT !!! * * *
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
> I know we all want cool automation
I prefer not this kind of automation because it will eventually be forced uppon everyone (except the very rich), remove freedom (you have to plan each drive beforehand) and increase mass surveillance.
All I know is my state farm policy just made it crystal clear that if you are using your car logged into a ride share (with or without an active passengers) you are NOT covered for ANYTHING. If you want coverage for that add option XXX. My rates stayed exactly the same without the option. No idea what they charge for the option.
> you are NOT covered for ANYTHING. If you want coverage for that add option XXX.
FYI, the state I live in (likely true for every state) makes it crystal clear, if a insurer provides auto insurance in the state, they are required to cover accidents, even if they were used for business purposes without the proper class of insurance. They can go after the insured for premium differences, but they have to cover the accident.
Cars on roads are a utility to provide transportation.
If you "want to drive" find a race track or lobby for Route 66 to be a place to cruise.
I shouldn't suffer because you think cars are play things.