Comments on: California Legalizes Autonomous Cars

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 19:13:37 +0000

I eagerly await widespread use of autonomous cars. It’s quite evident that most drivers don’t want to drive, and many drivers are unqualified to drive. Like jdmitch said above, robot cars eliminate human delay and error. As for the unavoidable situation you demonstrated, you wrongly presumed that a human driver will distinguish which not to hit, in an emergency situation many people don’t have the necessary presence of mind. There are many examples where drivers have hit pedestrians and cyclists to avoid animals in the road, another vehicle, or other hazards; self-preservation usually preempts drivers concerns for others. Recall the support vehicle during the Tour de France that sideswiped a racer to avoid driving into a tree, certainly the driver knew the cyclist was there, but the driver disregarded him to avoid wrecking himself. Most drivers are unlikely to endanger themselves in a wreck to avoid hitting another, even in situations where they (the driver) are likely only to receive minimal injuries.

By: Tan

Tan — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 12:21:53 +0000

They want an autonomous car? Get on a flippin bus…

By: Scott Spitz

Scott Spitz — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:50:52 +0000

jdmitch….I think that’s the perceived overall benefit to these vehicles and they would more often than not eliminate that human error component, the tricky part is when “unavoidable” circumstances take place….for the sake of an absurd hypothetical argument, a stroller and a shopping cart accidently roll in front of a fast (but under the speed limit) moving autonomous car and one of them WILL get hit. What then? But yes, overall, these cars would seemingly go a long way to avoiding this circumstance in the first place….and with the proliferation of self-absorbed, impulsive, TEXTING drivers…I’m all for them.

By: scott

scott — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:56:57 +0000

Autonomous cars are scary and a horrible idea.

By: jdmitch

jdmitch — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 13:33:25 +0000

I hate to sound like a jerk, but quite frankly in all of the situations you cited that would have required a human decision-making-process, WOULD NOT HAVE EXISTED IF THE DRIVER HAD BEEN AWARE OF HIS/HER SURROUNDINGS PRIOR. In other words, the driver created the ultimate situation by being distracted up until that point. Had the driver been aware, they would have stopped LONG before the choice became “which is the least damaging to hit”. Autonomous cars have the potential to remove this setup. They are always aware and never distracted.