Driverless cars,think it could work?

[EddieM]

i wonder if the google car would drive into a flooded road ??

 

[AronSearle]

And?

Much of the congestion I see on motorways is due to volume of traffic. People queue to get off at junctions, people queue to get on! Its nothing to do with manner of driving. Two lorries are allowed to pass each other, it just pees everyone off when they decide to start the overtake at the bottom of an incline or a left bend, where it will inevitably take twice as long to pass!

People constantly break and accelerate, which causes waves, contributing to traffic (it's why they put variable speed signs on the London orbital when there isn't much traffic, they also considered traffic light systems to stop the waves going round)

People try lane hopping constantly, which also contributes to the above.

People don't let others into the lane in busy traffic (so those in the outside lane skipping several junctions, then have to try and push in when they need to come off).

I aint saying capacity isn't an issue, but bad driving (bad as in compared to what a computer network could achieve) is a big factor.

Technically you could have people zooming around at 80mph, almost bumber to bumber, as the computer knows what is up ahead, something people can't do.

 

[Steve]

Technically you could have people zooming around at 80mph, almost bumber to bumber, as the computer knows what is up ahead, something people can't do.

Doncaster taxi drivers always seem to know whats ahead in this case. I never knew Skoda Octavia's were this advanced already!

It could work. The technology is there to achieve it. It would wipe out all car theft and criminal getaways. In theory the police could shut down and bring to a stop any car they are pursuing. We wouldn't need insurance (or if we did it'd be a smaller contribution!).

Of course, all cars would need to have the same computer system, servo's etc installed, so that they all handle the same by the computer - and some degree of calibration would be needed, or the computer itself could learn how hard to accellerate and brake in every car to achieve uniform traffic flow etc.

During the transition, cars may need extra sensors on them to account for manually driven cars, so that they do not collide. In fact I think extra sensors for distance etc would be a must anyway - a failsafe system. Some method of safely bringing the car to a halt if the main control system fails would be nessecary. A second computer in effect, with basic safety priority.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

I desperately hope it never happens in my lifetime. I drove an automatic for the first time a couple of weeks ago and hated every second of it. Never have I had so little enjoyment from driving.