What could possibly go wrong?

[SCEMan]

This will be interesting to follow...

Driverless taxis hit the streets of Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — Robotaxis will begin cruising the streets of Los Angeles on Thursday when Google spinoff Waymo starts offering free rides to some of the roughly 50,000 people who have signed up for i…

ktla.com

Due diligence?!?
"Waymo is launching operations in Los Angeles two weeks after the California Public Utilities Commission approved the expansion in a decision that once again overrode the concerns of city transportation officials about robotaxis coming to sudden stops that block roads and the potential for driverless vehicles to malfunction in more serious ways that could jeopardize lives.

The worst fears about robotaxis were realized in San Francisco last October when a vehicle operated by Cruise, a driverless ride-hailing service owned by General Motors, dragged a pedestrian who was hit by another car operated by a human for 20 feet (6 meters) while traveling at roughly 7 mph (11 kph) before coming to a stop. The incident resulted in California regulators suspending Cruise's state license and triggered a massive shakeup at that service."

 

[TPA]

I've been playing with these type of systems for almost 10 years, well over 150,000 miles. My current car is capable and certified for full autonomous driving (only production car which ever has been...still waiting for Tesla to catch up). That said, I'd NEVER let it do the driving without keeping an eye on it. It's dumber than a horse. A horse knows to avoid a pothole, whereas these cars do not. Same for objects in the road.

 

[orbital]

+

Good thing California has 0% unemployment and no need to employ taxi drivers.

 

[Monocrom]

Yup, L.A. is a Paradise.

Tune in next week for more wacky insanity.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

In other news, car jackings are down in Los Angeles as driverless taxis give thieves no person to rob, then randomly crash them into buildings.

 

[pnwoutdoors]

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, since it's been legislated, ...


I'm sure that on roads with designed-in automation abilities it will be the ninth wonder of the world, when it finally gets to working in a given town, city, nation. But, until then many roadways are going to be a mishmash of various tech, most of which has zero clue about taking advantage or "playing nice" with such gear. I suspect it'll take a good 98%+ of all traffic being such 'automated' vehicles, for everything to work well enough for "prime time." Until then, I'm not so hopeful. Mark me down for the "what could possibly go wrong / said with a wince" camp.

Perhaps in another 30yrs. Though, I seriously doubt the near totality of all drivers will by jettisoning their existing-tech vehicles by then.

 

[Monocrom]

I predict many of those driver-less cars will be violently attacked and set on fire. A.I. lives don't Matter.

 

[LuxLuthor]

I predict many of those driver-less cars will be violently attacked and set on fire. A.I. lives don't Matter.

What if it is a black car? Still black AI lives don't matter?

 

[letschat7]

If you don't need people in factorys, at the check outs or driving taxis how will anyone have money to afford any goods or services?

 

[iacchus]

What could go wrong indeed...

 

[Toulouse42]

I really don't see the point of autonomous driving if you still have to be alert to take over if the car makes a mistake. If I'm driving I am fully alert and my reaction times are in fractions of a second. If the car is driving that reaction time is necessarily increased or multiplied by the "what the heck is the car doing" factor and the need to get hands and feet in the right position. If it hits a child for example you may be too late to make any difference and legally it's still your fault.

 

[Monocrom]

When these things eventually run over and kill a person, there will be calls to outlaw them. Until then, no one will care.

 

[pnwoutdoors]

When these things eventually run over and kill a person, there will be calls to outlaw them. Until then, no one will care.

Already have. And, true enough, most people don't seem to care enough to get such things univerally declared as "not yet ready for prime-time."

 

[Fuzzywuzzies]

A young mother driving a 90s Subaru Legacy saved a child's life by what @Toulouse42 describes - forward thinking:



Watch the dashcam speed readout and tell me how insanely quick her braking was!

 

[Kestrel]

I really don't see the point of autonomous driving if you still have to be alert to take over if the car makes a mistake. If I'm driving I am fully alert and my reaction times are in fractions of a second. If the car is driving that reaction time is necessarily increased or multiplied by the "what the heck is the car doing" factor and the need to get hands and feet in the right position. If it hits a child for example you may be too late to make any difference and legally it's still your fault.

This is the /huge/ problem they do not talk about at all :-(

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Anyone remember the buzz about "vehicle-to-vehicle communications?" In addition to the car's own sensors, they were supposed to be able to communicate with each other to help avoid accidents. The FCC even set aside some radio frequencies for this. But unless I'm missing something. that idea has fallen by the wayside in favor of trusting the cars to make their own decisions autonomously. And we're seeing how well this is working out.

 

[sajohnson]

If you don't need people in factorys, at the check outs or driving taxis how will anyone have money to afford any goods or services?

Some people would say, a universal basic income (UBI).

As automation continues to eliminate jobs, we will have to have a UBI or similar, because there will be plenty of people who are willing and able to work who simply can't buy a job.

Automated trucks alone will eliminate at least 500,000 jobs (Bloomberg).

 

[alpg88]

Some people would say, a universal basic income (UBI).

As automation continues to eliminate jobs, we will have to have a UBI or similar,

UBI comes from where, taxes? and if there are no people working , no taxes paid, where will money come from? UBI may work when for everyone getting it there are 50+ people working and paying taxes.

 

[sajohnson]

UBI comes from where, taxes? and if there are no people working , no taxes paid, where will money come from? UBI may work when for everyone getting it there are 50+ people working and paying taxes.

I didn't say I like the idea -- but something will have to be done.

The alternative is to have people who want to work but can't find jobs living in vans down by the river, if they're lucky.

It's not as if all jobs are going to be eliminated. There will still be plenty of people working, and of course corporations are supposed to pay taxes.

 

[Toulouse42]

Fantastic reactions from that driver (post 14).

When I was young, my friends mother had a similar situation except that the child tripped and fell towards the car. She missed his head by inches.

Needless to say she got out and immediately puked. It was quite some time before she could drive back home.

I always say that it doesn't matter whose fault it is. If you kill someone on the road, you'll never sleep right again.