Driverless cars in the UK

[Finlandia]

TTmonkey said:

CTrickle said:

This could be excellent. Can I drive to the pub in one. Drink freely then get it to drive me home?

WIN WIN!

The current law says no. You will still be in charge of a motor vehicle, therefore the police will be able to stop the car and force you to do a breath test, which you will fail, and then you will be banned. You wont be allowed to use your driverless car, as to use one you will still need a full valid drivers license.

Those that beleive this is a free taxi ride home for piss heads from the pub are rather silly.

The ones I have seen have had no steering wheel for a start, so how can one be in charge of a vehicle with no means of controlling it? Better not be drunk while using the Gatwick train then

[hidetheelephants]

TTmonkey said:

CTrickle said:

This could be excellent. Can I drive to the pub in one. Drink freely then get it to drive me home?

WIN WIN!

The current law says no. You will still be in charge of a motor vehicle, therefore the police will be able to stop the car and force you to do a breath test, which you will fail, and then you will be banned. You wont be allowed to use your driverless car, as to use one you will still need a full valid drivers license.

Those that beleive this is a free taxi ride home for piss heads from the pub are rather silly.

Why the assumption that the law is incapable of being revised to cope? How are you any more in charge of the vehicle than you are in a taxi? Responsible for yes, in charge of no.

I can see positives; if morons flock to driverless cars then overtaking will become a lot less fraught.

[Hoofy]

toerag said:

Riderless bicycles programed to be unable to over/undertake *anything*, that's where my money's going

Mine can do that already. It's doing it right now.

[Mr Will]

BGarside said:

...it's most likely a mix of automated and human-controlled vehicles would exist on the roads and so I'm not sure if the technology would be able to handle that...

It already can - take a look at the technology behind the Google prototypes. They are a lot more complicated than just following a route and hoping for the best.

[Dan_1981]

I can't wait, extra 2 hours kip every day.

[y2blade]

Negative Creep said:

y2blade said:

Hoofy said:

Can't wait. Obviously, pointless for a trackday but my regular dull commutes, I'd rather do something more interesting.

+1 I've said it for years, I'd love to be able to push a button and let the car do some of the driving for me.


bring it on

But again, it's only the first step to banning human controlled cars from the roads completely, and if they do that there is no way they'll allow motorbikes on a public road either

Oh well, I'm sure I'll find other ways to get my adrenaline fix

[cianha]

Have we had the "ARGH! CLANK! ROBOTS! PITCHFORKS! TORCHES!" post yet?

No?

Can't wait for these. If only to take driving out of bad driver's hands…

[y2blade]

cianha said:

Have we had the "ARGH! CLANK! ROBOTS! PITCHFORKS! TORCHES!" post yet?

No?

Can't wait for these. If only to take driving out of bad driver's hands…

Well said.

[thinkofaname]

I think it car ownership will drop, and people who do need cars will increasingly buy smaller ones. No need for a massive people mover if most of the time it's just you in it. If you do need one occasionally, just summon it from Google Cars (TM) and it'll be at your door in five minutes. Probably a decade or two away, but it will totally change the car industry.

[Munter]

Negative Creep said:

y2blade said:

Hoofy said:

Can't wait. Obviously, pointless for a trackday but my regular dull commutes, I'd rather do something more interesting.

+1 I've said it for years, I'd love to be able to push a button and let the car do some of the driving for me.


bring it on

But again, it's only the first step to banning human controlled cars from the roads completely, and if they do that there is no way they'll allow motorbikes on a public road either

Indeed. I remember when they banned the horse, and the bicycle, and the traction engines....oh wait. Not that's not right at all. Everything that has ever been allowed to use the road is still allowed, so...not worried at all about that.

[kambites]

Crafty_ said:

Indeed it does, if you are correct presumably anyone will be allowed to drive? 5 year olds going to school for example.

Yes thats the hope. Car drives child to school then itself home.

How the insurance companies view them will be a huge factor in their success.

[Negative Creep]

Munter said:

Negative Creep said:

y2blade said:

Hoofy said:

Can't wait. Obviously, pointless for a trackday but my regular dull commutes, I'd rather do something more interesting.

+1 I've said it for years, I'd love to be able to push a button and let the car do some of the driving for me.


bring it on

But again, it's only the first step to banning human controlled cars from the roads completely, and if they do that there is no way they'll allow motorbikes on a public road either

Indeed. I remember when they banned the horse, and the bicycle, and the traction engines....oh wait. Not that's not right at all. Everything that has ever been allowed to use the road is still allowed, so...not worried at all about that.

Already restrictions on using classic cars in many EU countries

[mrtwisty]

TTmonkey said:

This technology offers a greater threat to the driver of cars than the likes of the speed campaigners and saftey camera brigade.

By definition, even if you have a 'mnual override' fitted to these cars allowing you to take over, what it also gives the government is all the infrastructure and reporting/controlling technologies that they need to stop all kinds of 'fun' driving.

These automated cars will have sensors and reporting systems that will tell exactly where the car is, has been, what speed its driven at, how its driven etc. This will be used by the insurance companies to price 'dangerous' drivers off the road. Any law infringements will be automatically monitored and reported and you'll recive your ban imidiatly.

Eventually the only way to travel will be to allow the car full control, and you'll be nothing but a passenger unable to interact with the car, and you'll go everywhere by the most direct and efficient route, at the most efficiant speed.

Drving as we know it will eventually be a thing of the past. Old non automated cars will be forced off the road by taxes and law changes, as they will be dirty, dangerous and damaging.

Its inevitable.

This makes me very sad

I hope you are wrong.

[Munter]

Negative Creep said:

Already restrictions on using classic cars in many EU countries

I don't remember moving to many EU countries though. I'm pretty certain I'm in the UK and we don't have those issues.

[T1berious]

Erm, just want to add that the revenue gained from motor vehicles for manufacturers, governments, fuel companies and insurance companies will see driverless cars as little more than a blip in the motoring world.

Yes, a vast huge number of drivers see a car as little more than a white good but a fair percentage see a car as a status symbol so until the likes of the big German 3 start building the ultimate driven machine I'll look at this as what it is.

A very interesting tech exercise and a fabulous marketing opportunity for Google.

I doubt any government wanting to see another term would ever pass a law stating human controlled cars be banned on public roads*

• not in my lifetime anyway

[CrutyRammers]

Paul O said:

Have to admit, its an interesting development, but also one I'd approach with huge caution.

Whilst ever there are manually driven lorrys on the motorways, I'll stick with something that lets me get the hell out of the way if they aren't paying attention.

I suspect that one of the first things to become driverless will be lorries. Big companies will be able to make massive savings, and have the cash to make the investment.

Paul O said:

For this to really work safely, it needs to be an all-or-nothing scinareo. I don't think we've managed driverless trains yet, and they just move up and down on rails... cars, far too complex at this stage.

This comes up on every thread about these. Have a look at what they can already do, and how safe they already are. Collision avoidance is one of the things these are always going to be better at than people.

[IanCress]

CrutyRammers said:

I suspect that one of the first things to become driverless will be lorries. Big companies will be able to make massive savings, and have the cash to make the investment.

I can picture the lorry drivers strike already, along with the Motorway blockades!

[TommoAE86]

Tin foil hat says I hate this because I still love driving and it will stop me doing that... on the other hand, getting moron's off the road is a great idea.

Tin foil hat is winning so.... NOOOOOOO TERMINATOR CANNOT TAKE CONTROL OF MY CAR, WHY ARE YOU DEPLOYING THE AIRBAG, MY FACE ARGH ARGH ARRRRRrrrggghhhh

[AA999]

Taking bad drivers off the road...this is the pandering down to the lowest common denominator. Using the dumb to bring down the level of every one else to their level.

Why not have more police on the roads to catch the bad drivers?
Government TV adverts to target specific bad habits?

Using tax payer money to raise standards and not in effect take them away altogether.

[warp9]

thinkofaname said:

I think it car ownership will drop, and people who do need cars will increasingly buy smaller ones. No need for a massive people mover if most of the time it's just you in it. If you do need one occasionally, just summon it from Google Cars (TM) and it'll be at your door in five minutes. Probably a decade or two away, but it will totally change the car industry.

This. Anyone who thinks that driver-less cars isn't going to happen is in total denial and I think the consequences are going to be very far reaching. Consider;
1) Most drivers don't get the PH thing and really look as cars as getting them from A2B. Status/image is perhaps the main driving force in car purchase decisions. A large proportion of drivers view cars as 'white goods' and are happy to pay a monthly fee. Once we get past the development and early adoption stages, these drivers will flock to driver less cars. Why wouldn't they? It's easier and convenient.
2) As has been stated, I believe speed will be restricted. This rather removes the 'my car is or looks faster than yours' marketing approach, so all of your S-Line touches, big engines etc will become irrelevant. Choice will be based on how comfy the driverless car is and how many people it will hold. Brand image will be eroded.
3) At this point I think people will start to wonder why they buy a driverless car, as in reality we only spend what 5% of our time actually in a car. Thus the rise of Google Taxi, super slick service, with aps and GPS means your taxi is always there. Significantly reduced cost of car ownership.
4) This is going to result in less cars on the road. More space for PH hooning. Bonus! Manually driven cars will become a novelty for petrol heads.
5) There will be other knock on implications. The one I'm thinking about at the moment is insurance. If you own a driverless car that has no manual intervention, then how can you work out an insurance premium? A 17 year old is now as equally likely to have a crash as a mature level headed person with 30 years experience. Insurance is going to have to be calculated on a set amount per vehicle. Big effect to the car insurance market as it totally levels the playing field.

I personally think that this is Google's long term attempt to attack the car market. Control the technology, erode the established brand identities and provide a better solution. It's going to take another 10 years to unfold, but within 20 years it will be main stream IMO.