The end of the world as we know it, or.........

[hesnotthemessiah]

Think it'll catch on?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18248841

[Triumph Man]

You would hope that removing the organic squishy bit would at least enable them to go a bit faster!!

[Quinten]

First thing that came to my mind was is how well it would cope with a game of "how many times can I let this car overtake me by falling back a bit and then accelerate past again without them noticing" on the motorway...

[Twincam16]

I think I'd go mad with frustration stuck in or behind one of these. If you happened upon a convoy like this I doubt you'd be able to overtake it.

Why can't anyone just accept that there are risks to life but they make it worth living? This is the technology of Wall-E, which was a warning, not a template for existence.

[Mr Gear]

I'm well up for it. For motorway and dual carriageway journeys it would be brilliant.

As long as I can turn autopilot off for the back-roads and urban environment, I'm sold.

Think of the possibilities: you could drive to Edinburgh and sleep through all the horrible bits from Basingstoke northwards

EDIT: let's hope it works better than this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1...

Edited by Mr Gear on Tuesday 29th May 12:32

[MKnight702]

If you read the article it's not as impressive as it first appears. The convoy mostly mimics the lead vehicle which is driven by a human but leaving a 6m gap to the vehicle infront. Isn't this pretty much what most of the mongs on the road do now but with a gap half the size or less?

[Chris71]

Same here. If I could let a computer do the boring bits of driving and take back control when there was some fun to be had I'd be well up for that.

[Twincam16]

Chris71 said:

Same here. If I could let a computer do the boring bits of driving and take back control when there was some fun to be had I'd be well up for that.

But who decides which bits are 'fun'?

The government?

Because as far as they're concerned, no motoring is 'fun', it's all about getting from A to B.

[paulshears]

"The cars were wirelessly linked to each other and "mimicked" a lead vehicle, driven by a professional driver."

What if the lead vehicle's driver is UN-professional? ... are all those following doomed?

&

What happens when someone "manually driving" their car gets in one of the 6m gaps between the "self-driven" cars

[Mr Gear]

paulshears said:

What if the lead vehicle's driver is UN-professional? ... are all those following doomed?

It's a good point. Bus drivers are s and it's not unheard of that a truck crosses the central reservation or hits a bridge. Taxi drivers... don't get me started.

/generalisation

[zeduffman]

I don't see how copying a driver for a few miles down a motorway makes this any more viable for the public roads.

There have been loads of self-driving systems over the years but the fact is, they just can't work in the real world.

Can you imagine them trying to navigate a roundabout? Let alone any of the other weird junctions we have on our roads...

[Jayho]

If it mimicks the vehicle in front wouldn't you have to ensure that the said vehicle is going to the same destination? Or would you have a GPS device with a preset destination in it where you'd simply follow the next car going the same direction? :S

Plus, no 2 cars are the same, and wouldn't be able to corner exactly the same... What if the guy infront is in a AWD Evo or lightweight Elise, who's cornering abilities are a lot better than a lot of other cars, would the car sense this and corner at a slower speed for you? Or mangle you in a scrap metal heap?

[PaulMoor]

I realy can't see how it will work. How many problems will it cause when the lead driver pulls off and the second car is not paying attention/asleep? Will they just follow them? Will it be motorways only? In which case will we have lane 1 full of car trains and lane 2 full over lorries overtaking the lot of them? If its not just motorways are we going to have roads full of trains of cars noone can overtake doing 50 behind a lorry?

Nice idea that works on the basis of all the cars going to the same place but I don't think it will work in practice.

[cjb1]

Have you had all sharp impliments confiscated and your shoe laces and trouser belt removed? Hows the padding on the walls?

Mr Gear said:

I'm well up for it. For motorway and dual carriageway journeys it would be brilliant.

As long as I can turn autopilot off for the back-roads and urban environment, I'm sold.

Think of the possibilities: you could drive to Edinburgh and sleep through all the horrible bits from Basingstoke northwards

EDIT: let's hope it works better than this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1...

Edited by Mr Gear on Tuesday 29th May 12:32

[Mr Gear]

cjb1 said:

Have you had all sharp impliments confiscated and your shoe laces and trouser belt removed? Hows the padding on the walls?

Mr Gear said:

I'm well up for it. For motorway and dual carriageway journeys it would be brilliant.

As long as I can turn autopilot off for the back-roads and urban environment, I'm sold.

Think of the possibilities: you could drive to Edinburgh and sleep through all the horrible bits from Basingstoke northwards

EDIT: let's hope it works better than this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1...

Edited by Mr Gear on Tuesday 29th May 12:32

Funny you should mention it, but no.

If you enjoy chewing on the steering-wheel whilst negotiating some of the worlds most tedious driving conditions, I'm sure you'll be able to opt-out.

[browna]

shirley its a road TRAIN. so the idea is youd hook up with the 15.10 leaving bristol to manchester, the convey being led by a profesional driver, you would pay the company for the benifit of being able to have a kip/do work/retire to the back seat with the misses lol, in the comfort of your own car while the "train" cains it along at 100mph+ (if the govnment plebs would allow it) you arrive relaxed not a gibbering mess of road rage and nerves.
if you saw a train passing you could probably wirelessly pay to hook up to it's its going.
sounds good to me.

[CBR JGWRR]

I can't belive people on PH are in favour of this...

[cjb1]

If you want to ride on a train f#ckin well go to a train station and buy a ticket!!! I cannot imagine the frustration of being stuck behind a convoy of bloody geeks travelling at 69mph in their Volvo road train on the M6 for miles and miles, even worse imagine if there was to be a trio of them side by side on a 3 lane motorway?

[cjb1]

What if one in the middle of the convoy had a blow out? Carnage.....

[thinfourth2]

So if i'm the lead driver does this mean i'll arrive home with at least 3 dopey sods who forgot to turn off the system all looking rather confused at the fact i am driving them through the middle of a field