A drunk person, a child, and a blind man get into a car. Who’s driving?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Cars that drive themselves seemed like science fiction just a few years ago, but recent demonstration projects have shown that the technology is already here. Self-driving car technology, pioneered by Google, has advanced so quickly that its ubiquitous presence on city streets is now simply a matter of time. Boosters say that mass-market autonomous cars are only three to five years away; others estimate at least 10 years. No one doubts they are coming.

But ideas about how these cars will affect cities and the environment seem to be stuck in the past. People think of self-driving, or driverless, technology as something added on to personal cars. Personal cars, however, spend 95 percent of their time parked, going nowhere, and waiting until they are needed. Its more likely that city dwellers will view this technology as a service, like calling for a taxi. In principle, an on-demand car service could offer the door-to-door mobility of car travel without the fixed costs and hassles of owning a car.

Self-driving technology could cause a societal shift away from private car ownership and toward vehicle sharing. Widespread use of on-demand car services would result in fewer vehicles, which would then transform urban land use. Cities could reap significant benefits: fewer parking lots, more relatively dense, walkable neighborhoods, cleaner air, and reduced carbon emissions.

Car-sharing programs like car2go offer spontaneous, one-way, pay-by-the-minute rentals within a prescribed service area. Members use a smartphone app to locate a nearby car, get to it, swipe a card to unlock, and drive to their destination. When they get there, users park the car at the curb and walk away, leaving it available for the next user.

Now imagine a mash-up of this popular model and Googles self-driving car technology. The car-sharing fleet could be retrofitted with self-driving navigation systems. (Lets call the hypothetical startup company Car2Google. Of course, other car-sharing services like Zipcar or even traditional rental car companies could jump into the game.) Layering self-driving technology onto this system would allow people to order a car from a fleet and have the car pick them up. Its a taxi service without the drivers. Users would summon a car with their phone and wait comfortably indoors. The car would call or text them as it approaches. Users would then hop in, talk on the phone, or nap while the car drives to their destination. Once there, they can just walk away. The service charges their credit card an amount based on the time or length of the trip.

In addition to improving car-sharing for the 1.7 million people who already use such a service, driverless technology would expand the appeal to a wide range of people, including those who:

are too young to drive;

are too old or infirm to drive;

have had their license suspended;

are too drunk or stoned to drive safely.

Parents could safely deliver their children to or from soccer practice or play dates simply by ordering a vehicle for them. Elderly people who should no longer be behind the wheel and disabled people who cannot drive would still have mobility, with the travel arrangements made independently or by caregivers. And everyone would benefit from impaired late-night revelers having a safe way to get home.

Does this sound like a fantasy? Rapid changes just in the last year bring this idea a lot closer to reality.

Driverless technology is becoming more reliable, safer, and cheaper. Googles six autonomous vehicles being tested in California have already logged more than 300,000 miles without incident. A Romanian teenager and an Israeli company have created low-cost versions of a self-driving car.

Auto manufacturers are running to keep up. General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen/Audi, Nissan, Toyota, BMW, Volvo, Cadillac, and Mercedes-Benz (which, like car2go, is a subsidiary of Daimler) have all begun testing these systems.

Legal barriers are falling away. Nevada, California, and Florida have enacted laws allowing the use of self-driving vehicles for testing purposes. A similar law was introduced in Oregon in early 2013, but it died in the legislature.

Car-sharing is an established program ready for technological breakthroughs. The popular car2go already serves 18 cities in North America and Europe. It is adding more cities all the time.

http://grist.org/article/a-drunk-person-a-child-and-a-blind-man-get-into-a-car-whos-driving/

Edited June 9, 2013 by Lincolns mullet

[BaBamSam 239]

Please make this an affordable reality. To never have to drive again would be a dream.

[Darnell 8,478]

Does this sound like a fantasy?

Not at all - it's been written about for the last 40 years , both in sci-fi stuff and in popular science magazines.

The barrier to entry is the car companies. They simply don't want to play with each local area to get accurate maps or invest the monies in the paradigm-shifting technologies required to pull this off.

It'll take some other company, NOT Google, to pull this off completely.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Who's driving? An illegal alien given a drivers license so he can further be exploited by employers for profit. He gets $5 per hour for driving, no benefits, no health insurance, no workman's comp, no payroll taxes are deducted. The car is a 1994 Dodge Caravan.

Democrats support his right to be here and say he is only driving cars Americans won't.

[Pooky 3,781]

So, who do back-seat drivers get to whine at now?

[X Factor 1,112]

So, who do back-seat drivers get to whine at now?

People on the phone: )

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Why are advocating drunk driving. It is a serious issue