Building the zero-fatality car

[slim 1,514]

Well, that confirms it, neither the SUV nor the bus were zero fatality.

[DEDixon 39]

people on earth are not in short supply, this kind of car isn't necessary.

[Heracles 417]

Get Floridian drivers off the road, problem solved.

[natty bumppo 289]

the above woulda been a good test. this one just happened in missouri yesterday. yes, that is a suv between the bus and rig.

a real zero-fatality car would have dialed 911 before the accident ... all 2 seconds before the crunch ... not to worry cause 911 wears shirts with the letter "S" ...

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Australia can have zero fatality cars, they will just ban driving. It will probably reduce the death rate even more than the firearms ban.

[slim 1,514]

Australia can have zero fatality cars, they will just ban driving. It will probably reduce the death rate even more than the firearms ban.

I'm surprised they haven't done so since more people die in auto accidents than shootings.

a real zero-fatality car would have dialed 911 before the accident ...

The commercial where OnStar is talking about "not being able to call for help" after a crash really irks me.

It's like we're 100% useless without big brother helping us out.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

They already make zero-fatality cars. You see them on the road every day. It's stupid drivers they need to do away with.

I'm a small government person, but I'd be more than happy if it were required to have a driving test every couple of years.....

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Why not make cars drive by autopilot and remove the driver entirely?

It's been possible for years.

[slim 1,514]

I'm a small government person, but I'd be more than happy if it were required to have a driving test every couple of years.....

Driving is a privilege, not a right. If they want to test every three days, I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with that.

Why not make cars drive by autopilot and remove the driver entirely?

It's been possible for years.

So those same people who can't keep their registration updated, insurance current, headlights fixed, oil changed, etc., are going to keep their autopilot systems maintained?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Do you even have a point, Slim or do you just like to argue for arguments sake?

Perhaps noone should drive cars, there are you happy?

Sheesh. Moron.

[^_^ 5,021]

Madhouse,

I believe the point is that even auto-pilot systems will need maintaining by their owners. Firmware upgrades, software updates, etc. Assuming all updates continue to follow the pull model currently favored by consumers, do you trust all owners to 'pull' down updates at the appropriate times in a manner consistent with the greater public safety? Personally, I think a system like this would have to be set up with all updates being mandatory 'pushes'. And even then, we all know the poor track record of Microsoft and its pushes to consumers who elect to have updates pushed to them. Poor QA practices affect us all and in an auto-pilot world, even more so.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The point is - that it is technologically possible (and has been for years) to have cars drive themselves without the need for a driver.

It can speed up traffic flow - because the cars accelerate and decelerate at the same rate (I've seen a demonstration of this) you can have cars convoy on freeways at high rates of speed without needing to maintain the traditional braking distance.

I didn't say anywhere that I knew the ins and outs of the technology or how it would be implemented and maintained - or indeed that it's my responsibilty to qualify that.

I just found it interesting. If driver error amounts for a significant proportion of car crashes, removing the human driver from the equation should improve the situation. Of course implementing a technology like that creates certain problems of its own. Surely that's a given.

[slim 1,514]

The reason people drive now is it's relatively cheap, easy, and convenient. To establish an auto pilot system would require huge sums of money that nobody is willing to fork over.

Currently, the push is on "fuel-efficient" cars which just so happens to be the opposite of zero fatality.

[Heracles 417]

Australia can have zero fatality cars, they will just ban driving. It will probably reduce the death rate even more than the firearms ban.

Australia already has an extremely low road fatality rate, I owned you on this point a while back.

Why not make cars drive by autopilot and remove the driver entirely?

It's been possible for years.

Because the government might use the vehicles to take over. True story, ask Slim.

[slim 1,514]

Because the government might use the vehicles to take over. True story, ask Slim.

That's why I don't have GPS in my car.