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Originally Posted by Eric O
I was amazed to see the negative response this article has received so far. I think that is a GREAT thing. There is no doubt in my mind that people in these cars may die, or even that it is a fault in the car itself. There are ~40,000 people that die in car accidents every year. If the technology that these cars reduces that rate in any way then I think it is a good thing.
The car companies are always trying to make the vehicles we ride in safer, and I am sure that they would not take the liability of releasing a system that would injure more people than it would save. Engineers are always trying to improve the quality of life by making more useful and safer automobiles.
A common saying comes to mind: 'Design it to be idiot proof, and there will be a bigger idiot.' Its almost like taking the idiot partially out of the equation.
Greg, the reason I wanted to quote your post is because there is some irony involved. Take every 'car' in your post and replace it with 'scooter'. Then take a look at your who am I picture.
I guess my overall point is that new technology is usually safer than old technology, that is why money is put toward designing/building it. I do not feel that the article tells me enough about how the system works for me to say 'that's not safe at all'.
-Eric
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Eric, thanks for criticizing my post, i wrote that too quickly this morning and never proofread it. I do think that automotive companies should keep innovating, however i think that there are other categories that they should focus on. IE safter cars, not cars that drive themselves. thats what i really was trying to aim at. Or ways of making the so called "50mpg" engine, SUV's with lowered CG, or alternate fuels. i just dont see autonomous cars being as useful as the other things i mentioned. Do i think that this is good technology? yes, i do think it is, i just dont think its the top priority.
As for the segway comment, a segway only travels 12-13mph, not 60, thus the technology in the segway is useful, much safer and the human is still in full control of the segway. from what the article says the computer on the car will completely not need human input.
again, good technology...bad priority