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Driverless cars set to roll out for trials on UK roads



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TomandJerry

Well-known member
Oct 1, 2013
11,449
" prototype driverless cars to be tested in the heart of four British cities are unveiled on Wednesday, with the government claiming the nation is uniquely placed to lead the development of the technology.

An autonomous shuttle traversing the North Greenwich plaza beside O₂ Arena will mark a small but significant step on the way to what ministers and engineers hope will be a safer, less-congested, driverless future.

The projects we are now funding in Greenwich, Bristol, Milton Keynes and Coventry will help to ensure we are world-leaders in this field and able to benefit from what is expected to be a £900bn industry by 2025,” he said."


What are NSC'S thoughts on driverless cars?
 




edna krabappel

edna krabappel

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 7, 2003
47,221
Lots of footage of them in operation on YouTube if you look.

It's a bit scary watching, and you can tell the people sitting in the "driver's" seat are even more nervous :lolol: The technology involved is phenomenal though.
 




Titanic

Titanic

Super Moderator
Helpful Moderator
Jul 5, 2003
39,065
West Sussex
Intelligent control systems could radically improve the flow control and throughput on busy roads like the M25... not sure how well they would work on the country roads though.
 






T

TomandJerry

Well-known member
Oct 1, 2013
11,449
Will they introduce a seprate lisence for people to be able to use one, like with automatics?

For example, pass in a driverless car and you can only use one,

Pass in a driverable one and you can use both
 


brightn'ove

brightn'ove

cringe
Apr 12, 2011
9,137
London
The funniest argument against driverless cars is that people don't 'trust' computers, as they 'eventually' make mistakes... Unlike humans, who are perfect and never do things like fall asleep at the wheel or drink drive.
 


G

Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,336
Uffern
StonehamPark said:
I reckon' 10 years plus before we see it in full swing.
I'd buy one though.
Click to expand...

Make it 20 - 10 years to sort out the technology and 10 years to sort out the bureaucracy (insurance particularly)

I can't see many individuals buying one: why would you need to? You use them for journeys that you need to make and pay per kilometre travelled: cheaper, more efficient, no worries about parking. You'd need a big disembarkation point for the Amex though
 




edna krabappel

edna krabappel

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 7, 2003
47,221
 


father_and_son

father_and_son

Well-known member
Jan 23, 2012
4,646
Under the Police Box
I used to work quite closely to this field and one observation really strikes me...


If your car drives itself then you no longer pay for insurance (because the accident won't be your fault and so can't be sued, so you would have no requirement to have an insurance policy in place to protect yourself). Instead the liability becomes a warranty on the product and the burden of risk moves from the owner to the manufacturer.

This has a massive impact on the finances of owning a car because the manufacturer isn't going to want to accept this cost and so will want to find a way to pass the charge back to the end user.

This means that you will have to pay an annual fee to the manufacturer to own a car. The manufacturer will need a comprehensive list of who is using ALL of their vehicles on the road and I doubt will trust the DVLA's list of ownership details. I'd expect a lot of intrusive monitoring going on that lnks the location data that the cars need to avoid collisions etc and the ownership details. That's a lot of very traceable, personal details that private companies will have on you.


If you think that Facebook knows a lot about you, imagine what happens when Google's driverless cars can link your online and offline life!
 






edna krabappel

edna krabappel

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 7, 2003
47,221
father_and_son said:
I used to work quite closely to this field and one observation really strikes me...


If your car drives itself then you no longer pay for insurance (because the accident won't be your fault and so can't be sued, so you would have no requirement to have an insurance policy in place to protect yourself). Instead the liability becomes a warranty on the product and the burden of risk moves from the owner to the manufacturer.

This has a massive impact on the finances of owning a car because the manufacturer isn't going to want to accept this cost and so will want to find a way to pass the charge back to the end user.

This means that you will have to pay an annual fee to the manufacturer to own a car. The manufacturer will need a comprehensive list of who is using ALL of their vehicles on the road and I doubt will trust the DVLA's list of ownership details. I'd expect a lot of intrusive monitoring going on that lnks the location data that the cars need to avoid collisions etc and the ownership details. That's a lot of very traceable, personal details that private companies will have on you.
Click to expand...


Possibly, but it's not going to rid the world of car insurance companies, as most owners of such expensive technology would require it to be insured against theft, accidental damage and so on.
 








P

Postman Pat

Well-known member
Jul 24, 2007
6,971
Coldean
fruitnveg said:
I'll pass, thanks.
Click to expand...

You probably will as the driverless car will stick religiously to the speed limit, and you probably wont.....

I hope the GPS is better than my current Sat Nav, which will routinely put me 200 yards to the left or right and in a field somewhere or on a completely different road.

How will re-fueling work, will it automatically drive to the nearest petrol station when it is low and wait to be re-filled? Or can it drive itself there while you are at work and someone else will fill it up?
 




brightn'ove

brightn'ove

cringe
Apr 12, 2011
9,137
London
Postman Pat said:
You probably will as the driverless car will stick religiously to the speed limit, and you probably wont.....

I hope the GPS is better than my current Sat Nav, which will routinely put me 200 yards to the left or right and in a field somewhere or on a completely different road.

How will re-fueling work, will it automatically drive to the nearest petrol station when it is low and wait to be re-filled? Or can it drive itself there while you are at work and someone else will fill it up?
Click to expand...

Or if you've been out on the piss, can you use an app to tell your car to come and pick you up?
 


T

TomandJerry

Well-known member
Oct 1, 2013
11,449
I can imagine someone will hack into one and there car will be driven around in circles till the fuel runs out :moo:
 




beorhthelm

beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
35,293
father_and_son said:
This means that you will have to pay an annual fee to the manufacturer to own a car. The manufacturer will need a comprehensive list of who is using ALL of their vehicles on the road and I doubt will trust the DVLA's list of ownership details. I'd expect a lot of intrusive monitoring going on that lnks the location data that the cars need to avoid collisions etc and the ownership details. That's a lot of very traceable, personal details that private companies will have on you.
Click to expand...

thats very interesting angle on it, i've only ever read and considered the technology. i'd wager this has just killed off the driver less car, or at least substantially limited its appeal. people arent going to want to pay an annual fee to own a car (i know they do effectively, its about perceptions). i dont think they need to know who is in the car at the time, if the liability remains with the manufacturer its irrelevant. however cars are already monitoring and uploading data to manufacturers, which not alot of people know about. all in all, i see this as something that will appeal to the commercial road user.
 


father_and_son

father_and_son

Well-known member
Jan 23, 2012
4,646
Under the Police Box
beorhthelm said:
thats very interesting angle on it, i've only ever read and considered the technology. i'd wager this has just killed off the driver less car, or at least substantially limited its appeal. people arent going to want to pay an annual fee to own a car (i know they do effectively, its about perceptions). i dont think they need to know who is in the car at the time, if the liability remains with the manufacturer its irrelevant. however cars are already monitoring and uploading data to manufacturers, which not alot of people know about. all in all, i see this as something that will appeal to the commercial road user.
Click to expand...

My view is that an annual fee will be accepted among new car buyers but once the car is 3rd/4th hand things will start to get a bit iffy.

Telematics (aka "Black Box" insurance, which is my field of expertise) does capture and record lots of information and I have discussed frequently and at length within the industry on how to monetise that information to subsidise the insurance cost (so, like facebook/google, you'd get targeted advertising sent to you based on places that you have been in your car and the income received from the advertisers would help lower the insurance costs). Imagine if your driverless cars knows that you have stopped at a drive thru' mcdonalds in the past and now, every time you pass close to one, it brings an advert for them up on the built in satnav/media screen.

As for the liability side. The manufacturer will not voluntarily take on this expense and will pass this on somehow!
 


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