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Michigan Lets Autonomous Cars On Roads Without Human Driver (go.com)
Companies can now test self-driving cars on Michigan public roads without a driver or steering wheel under new laws that could push the state to the forefront of autonomous vehicle development. From a report on ABC: The package of bills signed into law Friday comes with few specific state regulations and leaves many decisions up to automakers and companies like Google and Uber. It also allows automakers and tech companies to run autonomous taxi services and permits test parades of self-driving tractor-trailers as long as humans are in each truck. And they allow the sale of self-driving vehicles to the public once they are tested and certified, according to the state. The bills allow testing without burdensome regulations so the industry can move forward with potential life-saving technology, said Gov. Rick Snyder, who was to sign the bills. "It makes Michigan a place where particularly for the auto industry it's a good place to do work," he said.
With the rising number of idiots texting on their phones while behind the wheel, I have already seen hundreds of driverless cars on the road.
"It makes Michigan a place where particularly for the auto industry it's a good place to do work,"
Yeah except for the shitty roads, expensive labor, unsupportive government, hostile unions, etc. Other than that it's awesome. I find it hilarious that the state most closely associated with the auto industry has some of the worst roads in the country. Good place to test handling and suspensions I guess. Anyway this doesn't really matter much unless they can keep the companies that own the technology doing it in Michigan. Who cares if Google develops self driving tech in Michigan if Michigan doesn't see any of the financial benefit from that.
The thing that Michigan (particularly SE Michigan) has going for it is that the auto industry has a lot of residual talent left in the area. There is a ton of engineering and production capability. Michigan can be a great place to work on some really interesting technology. Seriously, it's hugely underrated as a tech hub but Michigan is one of the best places to be for high tech jobs. Too bad the state has dropped the ball in so many other areas. It's a beautiful place to live and work (outside of Detroit City proper anyway) and it's kind of a shame what has happened to the state in the last several decades.
This is actually good news for everyone, not just people in Michigan. If self-driving vehicles can deal with the weather conditions there, they should be able to deal with them in the rest of the country, and most other countries as well. Sunny days in California don't expose the hazards posed by rain, snow, slush, and black ice.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
If it's the fault of the manufacturer then sure, sue them. If however it's just a freak accident - and I know this may be a hard pill to swallow - perhaps you sue no one. It sort of saddens me a great deal when new tech is always confronted with "But who do I sue if something goes wrong!?!?!".
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
>> who do I sue
I'm sure there are equally large groups of lawyers trying to simplify that equation to either "act of god" or "the auto manufacturer" right now. And it will surely take a few court cases to get this hammered out, and then hammered out again. In the meantime, what people like the local governor are trying to do is make it clear that "it's OK to experiment here without having all the bureaucratic/legal answers (you want) in place" by sweeping some regulations to the side. Yeah, his call favors new technology research over human life, but if it really saves human lives in the future, he'll be up on that score too. (The alternative is really to let countries like China - who really do have a "fuck you" attitude toward human life - figure this out first.)
Guilt when it comes to corporate entities is already severely murky and depressing, and getting worse.
How many people went to jail for all the mortgage fraud, forged notary signatures, and crap sandwich CDO's from the 2008 bust? Still waiting for all the pending investigations by Eric Placeholder are you? Yep, lies, delay tactics, and no actual justice.
So yes, companies will get sued. They have lawyers by the bushel on staff who will drain the resources of the victims, draw out lawsuits for years, if not decades, and eventually wear down the victims until they settle or go away. If there is sufficient outrage the Justice Department (sort of like calling your propoganda department the Ministry of Information)will launch a very public investigation that mostly just fades away, maybe nailing a token peon or two in case anyone pays attention long enough.
In other words, the victims will get "American Justice" at its finest. How satisfied was anybody over the Toyota "unintended acceleration" debacle? No real guilt was admitted, and no proper post-mortem was divulged, just denial and smoke screens. We got new floor mats and a software update along with some payouts to shut people up. Only outside independent investigation confirmed their software was horrendous. Nobody went to jail for killing and maiming a few of their customers.
No CEO or high ranking person will ever go to jail simply because their policies pressured underlings to release dangerous products onto the street. At best we might get a recall and a settlement, maybe an empty public apology or resignation with golden parachute if absolutely necessary. We little people are not important, protecting CEO's careers is a higher priority than protecting our miserable lives.
Step 1: Step in front of car.
Step 2: Box the car in and then hook up to tow truck
Step 3: Profit!