Fears that road etiquette could be lost with introduction of driverless cars

[Freewill]

By what I see driving it might be a good trade off if we also lose road rage and drivers who are very unthinking or just "I got to be first" aholes.

I just wonder how this will go over with those who dirve 15 miles per hour over the speed limit. I assume driverless cars will obey the speed limits.

Fears that road etiquette could be lost with introduction of driverless cars - AOL News UK

Three in four drivers are worried that the introduction of driverless cars will spell the end of road etiquette, research shows.

The survey by uSwitch.com found that 75% of motorists fear the new technology will be incapable of good manners on the road, with some concerned this may even lead to accidents and delays.

Flashing lights, moving aside for emergency vehicles and letting other cars out of side streets, were named as the key gestures people feel will be forgotten as the new cars take to the roads.

More than a quarter of participants were also concerned that driverless cars will be less likely to be considerate to pedestrians or use the horn to alert other drivers to situations coming up ahead

But while research shows that 90% of traffic accidents are caused by human error, four in 10 were also concerned that car insurance premiums will rise if driverless cars become more common in the UK.

 

[leftwinger]

What I don't know.........could fill the universe. Butyou got me thinking about a market for"temporary" battery powered "emergency" lights.I'll get them robots out of my way one way or another! As I blast thru in 2013 obsolete V8F150.......pass me one o' dem beers up here Cletus. We gonna clear a path......yahooo!

 

[leftwinger]

All joking aside.......people do 85-110mph on open freeway. There will be bunches of geeks trying to "override".

What about the old insurance fraud box-in? Carjackers? Do Police have kill switch? Big Govt will track you 100%? New market for young lovers "in the back seat" while moving anytime anywhere. What about pothole avoidence? Many more.

 

[waltky]

Driverless cars improving?...

Data: Self-Driving Cars Need Less Human Help Than in Past
February 01, 2017 — Self-driving car prototypes appear to be getting better at negotiating California streets and highways without a human backup needing to intervene, according to data made public Wednesday by California transportation regulators.

The data reflect safety-related incidents reported by 11 companies that have been testing more than 100 vehicles on public roads, primarily in the Silicon Valley neighborhoods where the technology has grown up. The reports were made to California's Department of Motor Vehicles, which posted them online. The documents catalog the number of times from December 2015 through the end of November that humans took control from a car's software for safety-related reasons.

Waymo shows improvement

Waymo, as Google's self-driving car project was recently rebranded, did far more testing than the other 10 companies combined. Waymo reported that its fleet drove itself more than 635,000 miles with 124 safety-related “disengagements” — the equivalent of two incidents every 10,000 miles. That was a notable improvement over the prior year, when there were eight incidents per 10,000 miles. A reportable disengagement happens when the technology fails or the backup driver takes control out of concern the car is malfunctioning.

A fleet of Uber's Ford Fusion self-driving cars are shown during a demonstration of self-driving automotive technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania​

Collisions must be reported

Though imperfect, the data are the best peek the public gets into the fiercely competitive world of self-driving cars and how the prototypes are performing. California required the disengagement reports as part of regulations governing testing on public roads. Separately, the state also requires companies to report any collisions involving its cars. The Department of Motor Vehicles has been working on regulations that will define how the technology can be rolled out to the public when companies believe it is ready. When that will happen depends on several factors, including regulators' readiness and company confidence the vehicles are safe.

Final rules due in six weeks

While Tesla's Elon Musk has been bullish, talking about months rather than years, companies such as Waymo have suggested 2017 or 2018 is more realistic. The state expects to release final version of the “public operation” regulations within six weeks, according to Melissa Figueroa, a spokeswoman for California's top transportation official. The Department of Motor Vehicles made public a first draft in December 2015, nearly a year after final rules were supposed to be in place, and has since revised the language based on developments at the federal level and input from industry and other groups.

Data: Self-Driving Cars Need Less Human Help Than in Past

 

[EverCurious]

I don't even trust ABS brakes on ice/black ice, no way I'm letting a car drive for me in the winter...

Hell those auto breaking things scare the shit out of me - do you know what happens when you stomp the brakes on ice? You go faster lol

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

I bet black driverless cars get stopped more often.

 

[TomParks]

Those cars will be a total flop