self driving sooner than we think!

maillemaker wrote:

So self driving cars came out 5yrs ago?

I worked on a project 5yr ago that did just this in a midsize city.

Google "Connected Vehilces V2I"

We installed systems that duplicate traffic signals and signs electronically. The signal systems are now moving into wide scale implementation to accommodate cars that have the systems...

This is exactly what I'm talking about. When this becomes widespread, you'll know we've reached a turning point.

Pavement markings can already be detected by onboard cameras, so not a lot of need for those.

Until it snows.

Prediction: No matter how good self-driving cars get, they will never be perfect or infallible.

It won't take many accidents until the **** lawyers sue the manufacturers of self-driving cars into bankruptcy.

They don't have to be perfect or infallible - just statistically safer per mile than humans, which they already are.

You're right on the money angle, though. The nail in the coffin for human-driven vehicles will be when insurance companies start charging higher premiums for human-driven vehicles, and reduced premiums for self-driving ones. People will be priced out of human-driveable cars.

In fact one can easily wonder whether insurance will even be required for the owners of self-driving vehicles. If you are not driving, and you did not code the driving software, why would you be responsible at all in an accident? At that point, you are, literally, a passenger. It may very well come to pass that the manufacturers will be held liable for accidents.