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Originally Posted by Gui Cavalcanti
I believe that everyone who has mentioned "idiot drivers" or the like in their posts have unwittingly made the case for smarter cars.
Imagine every single idiotic driver in the world was replaced by a car able to stay in its lane, accelerate and decelerate promptly, and remain under control at all times. Imagine every single drunk and tired driver that was replaced by a computer whose attention never wanes.
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Gui is right on target. As I read through this thread I interpreted every example of "idiot drivers" not as a rationale for doing away with this technology, but as a perfect reason why it is needed.
Some people advocate avoiding this technology and somehow forcing drivers to become more involved with the process of driving, with the hope that it will somehow improve highway safety. This argument goes that if we take away automatic transmissions and cruise control and other technical advances, then somehow - magically - people will become better drivers. If this were true, then following this path to its logical conclusion would indicate that automobile control systems should regress back to the point when drivers used tillers instead of steering wheels, speedometers and seat belts didn't exist, and brakes on all four wheels were considered extravagant. Each of these inventions made driving safely a little easier. But simultaneously, so the above argument goes, making driving easier causes all drivers to lose their ability to concentrate on the task at hand, and thereby they all become worse/less safe drivers.
Sorry, but the evidence says this simply isn't true. With the advent of each of these devices, automobile accident rates (accidents per 1000 drivers) went down, not up (source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "Traffic Safety Facts").
This technology is aimed right at those that will benefit from it the most – the victims of traffic accidents caused by driver error. For the past 10 years, an average of 42,000 people die in the U.S. each year in traffic accidents, with over 95% of them attributed to driver error (source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System). Worldwide, the number reaches nearly 1,000,000 people per year. The numbers are clear and unmistakable: the existing system just isn’t working. Human drivers in complete control of motor vehicles, without some type of additional aides and/or technologies to prevent them from making stupid mistakes, will result in only one thing: a lot more dead people on the highways.
Unfortunately there will always be some driver of a big rig that had a fight with his wife that morning, and is working out his frustrations by tailgating an AMC Pacer while he is at the wheel of a 40,000 pound missle. I lost a friend in high school because that truck driver failed to consider the physics associated with differential deceleration when the young driver in front of him couldn’t get out of his way in time. There was nothing in the cab of his truck to warn him that he was way too close, or to force him to back off.
There will always be the moron that insists on "one more for the road" and ignores the fact that their license was revoked after their third DWI the year before. I don’t have a sister today because that habitual drunk was on the road and there was nothing in his car that could either take over the task of driving for him or detect his condition and stop the vehicle.
I will stand right in front with the group that says they enjoy driving. I admit that I also enjoy driving fast (be quiet, Kressly!). I like the sound of a big V-8 in a small car running around 4200rpm while driving up Grizzly Peak Blvd above Berkeley CA. It is a lot of fun.
But the reality is, if given the choice between the personal enjoyment of my own hands on the wheel while driving on a public road, using my own skills to guide a 450HP vehicle through traffic, or installing a robust technology that gets the typical error-prone human driver out of the loop, I can make that decision as fast as my neurons can fire. When this technology is really ready (and it isn’t yet), I hope it goes in every motor vehicle on the planet. I will gladly give up the privilege of personal control of a vehicle, and do the same for everyone else out there, to have my friends back and my family whole again.
-dave