Driverless Cars

[Llamaman]

I'm sure I read somewhere the car occupant will still have to sit in the driving seat and will still be in charge of the vehicle.

Which is a shame, as the main reason I would like one is to drive me back from the pub. Oh, and they need to add an incessant intercom with more than a whiff of racism, to truly recreate that black cab vibe.

 

[Llamaman]

I'd imagine there would need to be some system in place to "punish" people who regularly leave a shared driver-less car in a mess for the next patron. There would need to be some way to "reject" a car that has been left in a mess, so it would then report to a local neighbourhood depot for valeting and another car would be sent. Hopefully the system would monitor these situations carefully and any subscriber who regularly left a car in a mess would have their account pulled so they have to revert to using a conventional car.

This is how car clubs (like Zipcar etc) work. If the previous user leaves it in a mess, you report it. In the case of a driverless car, the car could then take itself off to be valeted.

 

[Llamaman]

You could read that as the driverless car slowed down too much too suddenly.

The oft-used excuse of poor drivers leaving insufficient distance to the vehicle in front...

 

[JonathanRyan]

You could read that as the driverless car slowed down too much too suddenly.

I'm prepared to bet all the money I have in my pocket that Google will have stuffed their cars with sensors that can prove this isn't what happened.

For one thing, I bet a certain sort of person would like to be able to brag they were involved in the first "accident" with a driverless car. Also, most people can't drive very well

 

[Cobra]

You could read that as the driverless car slowed down too much too suddenly.

Fair point well presented
They will need signs on the back,
instead of "Learners brake" suddenly
it'll be "driverless cars break [sic] suddenly

 

[ianp5a]

This is just a temporary issue until drivers get phased out. And then brakes will only be needed at the end of your journey.

 

[Cobra]

According to Zager and Evans thats in the year 5555

 

[nilagin]

This is just a temporary issue until drivers get phased out. And then brakes will only be needed at the end of your journey.

They'll have to be driving slow then so they don't have to brake for bends or turnings. You may as well walk.

 

[dejongj]

They'll have to be driving slow then so they don't have to brake for bends or turnings. You may as well walk.

Why corner, that is so last century. Just go up and find a free route at a particular height and keep going straight.

 

[sirch]

I'm prepared to bet all the money I have in my pocket that Google will have stuffed their cars with sensors that can prove this isn't what happened.

This is exactly what will push us all towards driver-less cars in future. Imagine the insurance claim; vague memories of human driver against the fully instrumented data (and probably video) from a computer driven car. It will have records of speed, deceleration, position, mass, road conditions ...

Insurance premiums for manually driven cars will go through the roof.

 

[boliston]

This is exactly what will push us all towards driver-less cars in future. Imagine the insurance claim; vague memories of human driver against the fully instrumented data (and probably video) from a computer driven car. It will have records of speed, deceleration, position, mass, road conditions ...

Insurance premiums for manually driven cars will go through the roof.

surely premiums are mainly based on risk - the risk for even most manually driven cars should go down with more driverless cars as the main risk is often from other badly driven cars

 

[StewartR]

surely premiums are mainly based on risk - the risk for even most manually driven cars should go down with more driverless cars as the main risk is often from other badly driven cars

Good point!

 

[nilagin]

Why corner, that is so last century. Just go up and find a free route at a particular height and keep going straight.

Cornering is one of the best bits. If life was just a straight line it would get boring very quickly.

 

[sirch]

surely premiums are mainly based on risk - the risk for even most manually driven cars should go down with more driverless cars as the main risk is often from other badly driven cars

Well it would be nice to think that but the "risk" of a manually driven car being found at fault will have gone up significantly and with hopefully fewer claims the overheads of administering insurance for manual cars will be much higher...

 

[dejongj]

Cornering is one of the best bits. If life was just a straight line it would get boring very quickly.

Everyone to their own choice, I am quite content being straight. Nor boring at all.

 

[ianp5a]

It's boring being stuck in traffic.

 

[Nod]

At least some cars are extremely comfortable! I suppose a driverless one could be fitted with a seat of the owner's choice so comfort could be assured.

 

[ianp5a]

It could be fitted with a bed if you want. With an alarm clock for when you get to work.
But remember to change out of your jim jams when you walk in the office though.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

self driving camper van. Let the dream come true.

 

[Cobra]

self driving camper van. Let the dream come true.

Excellent! you could sleep over night and wake refreshed in the morning, at your destination

 

[dejongj]

I normally let my wife drive through the night...By that time I'm refreshed in the morning when we hit either Northern Italy or Spain Has worked for many years nearly flawlessly...

 

[Cobra]

I normally let my wife drive through the night.. ...

You sleep while your wife is driving?
You are braver than I thought

 

[dejongj]

LOL She is good....only once took a wrong turning on the way back from Spain driving north on the route-du-soleil and then took the turning to Grenoble/Turin....Somehow I woke up luckily and we only had to drive back for about 100Km...

 

[Nod]

1/2 an hour's spirited driving time! (Not a problem in Italy as long as the car's Italian...)

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Not a problem in Italy as long as the car's Italian...)

do you mean something like Fiat Panda?

 

[Nod]

If you can find a Panda that'll do 200km/h...

 

[LongLensPhotography]

If you can find a Panda that'll do 200km/h...

down a hill / cliff sure it will.

 

[Nod]

I wonder what their terminal velocity is under Earth gravity in Earth atmosphere. I bet a "500" would be faster (and would pay to see every one of them shoved off a cliff alongside the FWD BMWs and rounded VW Golfs!)

 

[dejongj]

Oi do you mind. I like the '500', especially as a 595. I might still get one and the 595 is an absolute blast to drive.

 

[ianp5a]

I wonder what their terminal velocity is under Earth gravity in Earth atmosphere. I bet a "500" would be faster (and would pay to see every one of them shoved off a cliff alongside the FWD BMWs and rounded VW Golfs!)

According to science, they should all fall at the same speed. So they did an experiment. They drove 3 very different cars off of a cliff at the same time to compare the velocity. However one of them did clearly fall faster than the others. It was the one with Jeremy Clarkson in it. Captain Slow, obviously, impacted last. But I think they somehow cheated.

 

[dejongj]

According to science, they should all fall at the same speed. So they did an experiment. They drove 3 very different cars off of a cliff at the same time to compare the velocity. However one of them did clearly fall faster than the others. It was the one with Jeremy Clarkson in it. Captain Slow, obviously, impacted last. But I think they somehow cheated.

Its been a while but isn't it that accordance to science in a vaccum they should all fall at the same speed...what is it 9.76 or something like that...

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Its been a while but isn't it that accordance to science in a vaccum they should all fall at the same speed...what is it 9.76 or something like that...

Air resistance, isn't it?

It also depends on the launch speed and angle. Accelerate down a hill and miss a bend - that would 'help'

 

[Nod]

Oi do you mind. I like the '500', especially as a 595. I might still get one and the 595 is an absolute blast to drive.

I like the proper 500 - with a 500cc engine but the current one has an 875 as the smallest available so shouldn't be called a 500 (maybe they should all be called the Cashins!!!) (And yes, I am aware that the final incarnation of the real 500 was a 600!)

According to science, they should all fall at the same speed. So they did an experiment. They drove 3 very different cars off of a cliff at the same time to compare the velocity. However one of them did clearly fall faster than the others. It was the one with Jeremy Clarkson in it. Captain Slow, obviously, impacted last. But I think they somehow cheated.

If only!!!

Its been a while but isn't it that accordance to science in a vaccum they should all fall at the same speed...what is it 9.76 or something like that...

Yup, in a vacuum they should all accelerate at 9.81m/s/s.

 

[dejongj]

Nostalgia is clouding your brain. The original 500 compared to today was actually pretty s***.

Besides as a great man once said, there is no substitute for cubic inches

 

[ianp5a]

Yup, in a vacuum they should all accelerate at 9.81m/s/s.

Yeah! Try to get Clarkson to follow the rules!

 

[Nod]

Put him on the edge (making him wait a while for a steak does the job...) and I'll give him the push! Not too bothered about the actual acceleration (and don't really want to see the results of the final deceleration at the bottom, either!)

JP, a very good substitute for cubic inches is a turbo (or 2!), as fitted to the go faster Ka in the FIAT Cashin guise. Pretty much every car from that era is crap when compared to a modern one. I have no problem with the cars I mentioned, just with their names which are cynical cashing in on icons.

 

[dejongj]

True, but also put a turbo on a engine with a large displacement and it is even better than the little one. And sounds a million times better.

I think the mini tops the charts for ridiculous names. And bmw in general as they hint at displacement but have nothing to do with it.

 

[Cobra]

Besides as a great man once said, there is no substitute for cubic inches

As I always say, if your gonna have one have a big one

 

[dejongj]

As I always say, if your gonna have one have a big one

That is exactly what I thought when I saw that man at whipsnade whip it out by lynxes. I said to myself wow that is a big one.

Hmm I might actually have a photo of it, maybe I should post it here

 

[Nod]

True, but also put a turbo on a engine with a large displacement and it is even better than the little one. And sounds a million times better.

I think the mini tops the charts for ridiculous names. And bmw in general as they hint at displacement but have nothing to do with it.

Yup, yup and yup! (Possibly another yup as well - can't count!)
The "Mini" and the new Beetle are almost the antithesis of the originals.
SO tempted by the king of cubes (in production bike circles) - a 2.3 litre triple... Don't need it and it's far too much for a toy but great for bragging rights!