It is time to look at the reality of the driverless cars. Weatherman, you want them to be 100% safe. Nice dream, but likely impossible for another decade or so.
You have talked about coding glitches. And that is entirely possible. But those would be isolated incidents. At worst, there might be 500 or so a year.
In 2010 there were almost 5.5 million vehicles crashes, including over 30,000 crashes with a fatality (killing over 32k and injuring over 2.2 million people). As a people, we suck at controlling our vehicles.
Driverless cars will never be distracted, never be drunk or on drugs, and they will never suffer from fatigue.
Here is some data on accidents involving human drivers:
from:
Learn the Facts About Distracted Driving
"According to the
NHTSA, over 3,331 people were killed and over 387,000 injured in motor vehicle accidents connected to distracted driving. That represents 10 percent of all fatal crashes and 17 percent of all accidents that caused injuries. The
National Safety Council disputes these findings, and says that at least 28 percent of vehicle crashes are caused by
texting and cell phone use alone—never mind other distractions."
In 2015, according to the CDC, 10,265 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (29%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. That does not even count those impaired by prescription or recreational drugs.
And as for your claim about the exploding rocket because it was trying to divide by zero, or the idea that the car cannot make decisions as fast as a human, consider this. The Tesla has 8 cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors monitoring 360 degrees and out to 250 meters. It has forward looking radar that can see through fog, rain, smoke and more. It is processing this data all the time. So if something happens suddenly, the car knows where every vehicle around you is and how fast they are moving. It knows where the road is, the hazards are, and can process the best evasion route in a millisecond. And there is no "divide by zero" in your talk about what happens at 70 mph on the highway. You basically have 3 choices. You swerve left, swerve right, or brake hard and stay in the line you are in. The hazards in the other lanes make this easy, IF you know where the hazards are. Human drivers tend to forget to check their mirrors every 3 to 5 seconds. And even then there are blind spots. 8 cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors remove the blindspots.
Driverless cars are coming. They will make the roads safer than they are now.
