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Tomorrow, Self Driving Cars are a reality, would you support banning manual cars?

If self driving cars reach potential, would you ban steering wheels?

  • Yes, automated cars will be far safer

    Votes: 2 6.1%

  • No, there are times when a Human is needed

    Votes: 16 48.5%

  • Optional - you can have a fully auto car or not

    Votes: 11 33.3%

  • OTHER

    Votes: 4 12.1%
  • Total voters
    33
Renae

Renae

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In the interest of Safety, if tomorrow Self Driving cars were a "reality" and worked as intended. Would you support banning the steering wheel from cars? That means all existing cars have to be replaced/retrofitted. Say 2 years and then you cannot drive your own car. Would you support this in the interest of safety on the roads?
 
No. While it might sound a bit paranoid, it would make it too easy for one's ability to travel to be constrained by authority.

Also I'm a long way from trusting self-driving cars... even if they can be proven to drive safely (as yet not adequately proven by far) the question of whose interests their programming serves first is still in the air. If the answer is anything other than "the driver/owner's interests" then my answer is no. (see article on "the ethics of self-driving cars", where it is argued that the car must be able to solve the "train dilemma" by choosing to sacrifice the driver rather than five pedestrians... I want nothing to do with a car that might decide to sacrifice me for other's sake, that is my call...)
 
The poll should have used check boxes. Even self drive car systems can (and will) break down requiring manual operation in such cases. I also oppose making all existing vehicles (which can last several decades) become obsolete.
 
Nope. Eight times out of ten, I'd be ecstatic at just having the computer do the damn driving for me. Those other two times, I just want to drive.
 
I went with other.

In my perfect scenario, you would have lanes for autonomous, and lanes for manual, and separate those lanes with barriers, in highly populated areas and freeways.

I would also make downtown cores of major cities be fully autonomous, with public transportation (busses / trains). I would also put up barriers to ensure that pedestrians do not get in the way of vehicles, and vice versa.

I think autonomous cars can be made to be very safe, if only interacting with other autonomous cars, and pedestrians are kept under control. As our populations continue to rise, and become more and more centered in urban environments, we're going to have to get a lot more creative and a lot more involved with how that population (and the goods required to support that population) are moved around. Autonomous vehicles actually have the potential to solve a lot of these problems, but there's no such thing as a free lunch, there will be a cost, in terms of having to deal with change.

I'd still like to be able to go for a drive in the country, so I'd like to see all autonomous vehicles come with a manual option...so, no to outright banning the steering wheel, but perhaps some kind of disabling / enabling feature, depending on where the car is at the time.
 
Renae said:
In the interest of Safety, if tomorrow Self Driving cars were a "reality" and worked as intended. Would you support banning the steering wheel from cars? That means all existing cars have to be replaced/retrofitted. Say 2 years and then you cannot drive your own car. Would you support this in the interest of safety on the roads?
Click to expand...

I selfishly want a completely self driving car so that I can continue to have the advantages of car ownership even when I'm too decrepit to drive. That's a long way off though. I'll probably have to ride to the mall in the old folks van like everybody else. Even if I get to have my completely self driving car I wouldn't wish to force others to do the same.
 
Renae said:
In the interest of Safety, if tomorrow Self Driving cars were a "reality" and worked as intended. Would you support banning the steering wheel from cars? That means all existing cars have to be replaced/retrofitted. Say 2 years and then you cannot drive your own car. Would you support this in the interest of safety on the roads?
Click to expand...

No

The cost would be extremely high to do so and retrofitting old cars would be far more than buying a new one. Second old classic cars would be ruined or made into track only cars
 
No.

Automated systems still fail and require human intervention and driving is pleasurable. That said I wouldn't mind a selective self drive system that I could use to relieve the tedium of long drives.
 
Gaius46 said:
No.

Automated systems still fail and require human intervention and driving is pleasurable. That said I wouldn't mind a selective self drive system that I could use to relieve the tedium of long drives.
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Cadillac has that on the CT6. It will drive on the highway at speed with no human intervention. But the driver has to keep their eyes on the road
 
Renae said:
In the interest of Safety, if tomorrow Self Driving cars were a "reality" and worked as intended. Would you support banning the steering wheel from cars? That means all existing cars have to be replaced/retrofitted. Say 2 years and then you cannot drive your own car. Would you support this in the interest of safety on the roads?
Click to expand...

Some one did not get the memo.

If and when driverless cars become the norm. There will be very little in the way of private ownership of cars. And that would probably be for sport or weekend recreation.

Think about it, why would anyone want to own a car with all its expensive maintenance cost. A simple phone call could have a car at your doorsteps within minutes. You would not have to worry about paying for parking at either end of the travel. Nor find space for a thing that you really do not use all that often.

The whole concept behind driverless cars is that of a future where people simply rent a convenience for a direct purpose rather than have to own a debt.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Cadillac has that on the CT6. It will drive on the highway at speed with no human intervention. But the driver has to keep their eyes on the road
Click to expand...

Didn't know that. Hopefully something like that will make it's way into more cars.
 
soylentgreen said:
Some one did not get the memo.

If and when driverless cars become the norm. There will be very little in the way of private ownership of cars. And that would probably be for sport or weekend recreation.

Think about it, why would anyone want to own a car with all its expensive maintenance cost. A simple phone call could have a car at your doorsteps within minutes. You would not have to worry about paying for parking at either end of the travel. Nor find space for a thing that you really do not use all that often.

The whole concept behind driverless cars is that of a future where people simply rent a convenience for a direct purpose rather than have to own a debt.
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Cept that doesn't work for people who dont live in urban areas.
 
Renae said:
Cept that doesn't work for people who dont live in urban areas.
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True, there will be exceptions. But for those who live in urban areas the ownership of a car will be a luxury few would be willing to pay for.

And cities will be better off for it. Less space taken up for cars giving more areas that can be turned to accomadation or relaxation.
 
soylentgreen said:
True, there will be exceptions. But for those who live in urban areas the ownership of a car will be a luxury few would be willing to pay for.

And cities will be better off for it. Less space taken up for cars giving more areas that can be turned to accomadation or relaxation.
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And more reason for me to live out in the rural America, cities suck
 
My guess is that the transition will be a slow one in which cars do more and more of the driving until the routes and traffic flow are largely controlled centrally via computer. Part of me likes the idea. As a commuter, I can see a real overall benefit to that. However, I'd need to be more convinced that some hacker asshole won't decide to play "let's reroute traffic over that there cliff, huh huh huh." I see that as a risk. In general, though, it will probably be smoother and safer. Doubt that it will be the norm soon, though. Look for it to happen in Europe first, and then we'll see where it goes.
 
Helix said:
Look for it to happen in Europe first, and then we'll see where it goes.
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I'd say that's not because of a difference in attitude. People are people. It's because of population density, the same factor that drives the use of light rails.
 
ecofarm said:
I'd say that's not because of a difference in attitude. People are people. It's because of population density, the same factor that drives the use of light rails.
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Possibly. However, there will probably be a certain amount of shouting at clouds as cars become more autonomous and centrally controlled. I have some concerns about it myself. When I get behind the wheel and experience the every man for himself model, though, an updated system starts to make more sense.
 
Helix said:
Possibly. However, there will probably be a certain amount of shouting at clouds as cars become more autonomous and centrally controlled. I have some concerns about it myself. When I get behind the wheel and experience the every man for himself model, though, an updated system starts to make more sense.
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There's an attitude factor, but it's the same everywhere; frightened old people.
 
ecofarm said:
There's an attitude factor, but it's the same everywhere; frightened old people.
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True. I was thinking about this today : can you imagine if someone proposed the interstate highway system today? I'll bet they'd have some trouble getting that done, to say the least.
 
Helix said:
True. I was thinking about this today : can you imagine if someone proposed the interstate highway system today? I'll bet they'd have some trouble getting that done, to say the least.
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Things that benefit most of us, personally and obviously, aren't difficult. Social and environmental benefits are the tough sells.
 
Renae said:
In the interest of Safety, if tomorrow Self Driving cars were a "reality" and worked as intended. Would you support banning the steering wheel from cars? That means all existing cars have to be replaced/retrofitted. Say 2 years and then you cannot drive your own car. Would you support this in the interest of safety on the roads?
Click to expand...
No.



..
 
Renae said:
And more reason for me to live out in the rural America, cities suck
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I absolutely agree which is why i live in rural new zealand even though our cities are not that big compared to americas.
 
Renae said:
In the interest of Safety, if tomorrow Self Driving cars were a "reality" and worked as intended. Would you support banning the steering wheel from cars? That means all existing cars have to be replaced/retrofitted. Say 2 years and then you cannot drive your own car. Would you support this in the interest of safety on the roads?
Click to expand...

I will support it the day you agree to use only computerized pubic hair cutter with no manual controls, trusting in the programmer and anti-hacking guys to have done their jobs correctly.
 
Renae said:
In the interest of Safety, if tomorrow Self Driving cars were a "reality" and worked as intended. Would you support banning the steering wheel from cars? That means all existing cars have to be replaced/retrofitted. Say 2 years and then you cannot drive your own car. Would you support this in the interest of safety on the roads?
Click to expand...

This will never happen.

If you think the NRA is fanatical about guns, try to take peoples classic cars away.
 
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