The New Flat Earth Society?

[ToraToraTora]

Are those that sincerely believe that driver less vehicles are viable living in a dream world?

[Svejk]

Surely Luddites are more likely to be flat-earthers.

[jim360]

Anyone who believes in any kind of future technology being viable is living in a dream world. But then, without such people, reality would never move forward. Maybe it will never happen. It's certain not to happen if we don't try, though.

[ToraToraTora]

this is nothing to do with technology jim.

[jim360]

No, it's to do with societal attitudes to technology. Every time a breakthrough like this happens you get people who doubt its viability, for one reason or another. This is no different. Such people do have their role to play, to be sure, but they have also generally been wrong.

The idea that it's the people who want to push for the technology to be accepted are equivalent to backwards people who can't accept the evidence of their own eyes is frankly ludicrous.

[New Judge]

Many things seem to be dreams of fantasy when they are first promulgates, 3Ts.

Who would have believed when the Wright brothers took to the air that anyone would be able to fly seven miles high on their way to the Caribbean whilst sipping a G&T? Who would have though that trains without drivers would be plying through tunnels deep under London? Who would have thought that voice and vision connectivity would be available on demand to almost anywhere in the world?

All these things were stuff of fantasy when the technology to provide them wasn't in place. I imagine driverless vehicles will one day be the norm and everybody will look back on the 20th Century and say "What? You had to sit and steer the bloody things to avoid hitting anything? There must have been loads of collisons"

[Svejk]

I doubt hard headed car companies have been investing hundreds of millions in daydreams.

[ToraToraTora]

yes but this is different judge, the tech is more or less fine, the problems are legal and insurance. If I have to be deemed in charge and responsible then the whole exercise is pointless if not who is to blame when my car causes carnage? When those things can be addressed then we can have driver less vehicles, ie never. No tech as intelligence, AI does not exist, thus any software is linear decision making programmed by flawed humans, thus they will never be safe. QED convoys of trucks, completely potty.

[jim360]

Once the technology becomes feasible, lawyers with rather a lot more imagination than you and me will be able to solve those problems in not a long time at all. And, of course, the entire point is that such incidents will be many times rarer anyway.

A million plus deaths annually worldwide, versus who pays £500 compo for a dead family pet? No contest. In the long run, TTT, you're likely to be on the wrong side of history on this one.

"QED convoys of trucks"? What the heck is QED even doing in that sentence?

[New Judge]

I accept the problems you mention are not solely concerning technology but I'm sure they will be ironed out, 3Ts. There must have been similar fears when it was first suggested that Joe Public should take to the air for a fortnight in Benidorm.

As has been mentioned, businesses do not invest heavily in technology they believe will see no return. Of course we shall see (and I doubt it will happen in the short term). But I can imagine in the future that the idea of having to "drive" a car will seem as quaint as having to "book" a long distance phone call does now.

[ToraToraTora]

well as I have said before, when I can I can sleep on the back seat of my car sh1tfaced and it drives me home and nothing it does can be blamed on me I'll eat my hat and yours.

[Hypognosis]

Aha, so the breweries and pub trade should invest in the driverless car industry. They'd be able to grow back to their pre-drink-drive legislation sales levels.

It's the law which is always behind the times, 3T. Why didn't you title your thread accordingly?

[ToraToraTora]

the post is correctly titled.

[douglas9401]

The idea is brought to us by the same massive brains who hope to deliver that money pit called HS2, decades after every other country worth bothering about has their own.
It'll be delivered the week after the national monorail maglev network opens and we all have personal jet cars.

[Canary42]

I feel this topic has already been aired here :-

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Motoring/Question1479698.html

[jim360]

The Flat Earth Society is, primarily, characterised by people who refuse to embrace the new (or, for that matter, anything for the last couple of thousands years). At the very least, those who want to see driverless cars are guilty of embracing the new too eagerly, which is the exact opposite of Flat Earthers. The thread is not correctly titled at all.

[ToraToraTora]

.....those that think that desire alone can deliver advances. The post is correctly titled.

[joko]

ahh the good ol' armchair expert. haha

[New Judge]

Although it seems they're not quite ready yet:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35800285

[Svejk]

Ah, but what shape is the average human-driven car in. (taking the millions? of miles travelled by compucars. If you see what I mean)