Google's self-driving cars have been involved in 11 accidents

[HEXUS]

But all the accidents were caused by other cars, driven by humans.

Read more.

[shaithis]

I don't like this, I prefer to drive and I prefer cheaper insurance.

I do feel that this is heading towards a driverless future

[cheesemp]

Personally I'm excited by this. I do love driving but only when it quiet and my commute is anything but quiet (good old M27). I'd rather sit back and play a game/do work than worry about the next driver that's going to cut me up (I don't remember a commute this hasn't happened)...

[Percy1983]

Personally I'm excited by this. I do love driving but only when it quiet and my commute is anything but quiet (good old M27). I'd rather sit back and play a game/do work than worry about the next driver that's going to cut me up (I don't remember a commute this hasn't happened)...

Same here, So I take my 3DS and get on the bus.

Shows as safe as these cars are you can't stop people hitting them, same goes with a good driver.

[davesom555]

Personally I'm excited by this. I do love driving but only when it quiet and my commute is anything but quiet (good old M27). I'd rather sit back and play a game/do work than worry about the next driver that's going to cut me up (I don't remember a commute this hasn't happened)...

Same here, So I take my 3DS and get on the bus.

Shows as safe as these cars are you can't stop people hitting them, same goes with a good driver.

If all cars were autonomous then they'd probably reduce the number of shunts. It's always people at fault.

[KeyboardDemon]

Even the best drivers can suffer from the occasional lapse in concentration or distraction, but I wouldn't want the car to do all of the driving, I just want them to assist in accident prevention.

[Jowsey]

I prefer cheaper insurance.

Driverless cars = no crashes = in the event of an incident no liability to you personally as you couldn't have made a difference = no insurance required.

But for that too work everyone would have use driverless cars.

[DanceswithUnix]

If all cars were autonomous then they'd probably reduce the number of shunts. It's always people at fault.

I have had a pretty bad near miss when a Clio throttle cable stuck pm throttle open. Mechanical failure must be interesting to code for, though I expect it comes down to the same way I handled it: Stop the car however you can.

Edit to add: Mind you, I expect most humans would deal badly in that situation so perhaps I am being unfair.

Humans are probably pretty easy to code as a small python script...

try:
    turn_left()
    turn_right()
except:
    hit_horn()
    panic()

[cheesemp]

Same here, So I take my 3DS and get on the bus.

Shows as safe as these cars are you can't stop people hitting them, same goes with a good driver.

Due to my odd commute its an hour and 30 minutes on the bus (and that assuming you were lucky enough to get the connection)! Its 30-40 minutes in the car... I wish public transport was better in semi-rural areas but its not. We don't even have a train station in our town.

[Percy1983]

I have had a pretty bad near miss when a Clio throttle cable stuck pm throttle open. Mechanical failure must be interesting to code for, though I expect it comes down to the same way I handled it: Stop the car however you can.

Edit to add: Mind you, I expect most humans would deal badly in that situation so perhaps I am being unfair.

Humans are probably pretty easy to code as a small python script...

try:
    turn_left()
    turn_right()
except:
    hit_horn()
    panic()

Does make me wonder why/how people panic, I remember somebody on the motorway speeding and saying the accelerator was stuck down... dip the clutch and turn the engine off...

As for these who sneeze and hot the accelerator, I have never lost control of my feet in such and event but have always moved my foot off the fast pedal in that short warning period before the sneeze.

Interestingly if all cars where driverless and all had planned routes it could be easier to sort car sharing for many.

[devBunny]

360 degree visibility and 100% attention out in all directions at all times; our newest sensors can keep track of other vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians out to a distance of nearly two football fields.

"I can't wait to get my hands on a fleet of these", said Commissioner Al Wayswatching of the City Police.

[The Hand]

I'd like a driverless car.. Road rage against yourself would be quite amusing to watch.

[Animus404]

I can't wait to see a real life Johnny Cab!

[Lanky123]

Hopefully this will eventually make public transport cheaper and more reliable for those complaining about it. We are already seeing companies like Uber automatically processing a taxi journey after you put it into your phone, also bla bla car getting people to rent out their passenger seats to those going in the same direction. You can imagine a scenario where there's huge fleets of driverless vehicles from car to bus size around the country adjusting their routes in real time to account for the journeys people are demanding. The price you pay would presumably automatically change depending on how much of a detour a vehicle would have to take, how large/fuel efficient that vehicle was etc. If all cars were driverless accidents & traffic jams would hopefully reduce to the extent that your journey time could be estimated to the minute.

For those saying they enjoy driving so are worried by this - how would you feel about a future where commuting and recreational driving are physically separated? Larger 'track day' type areas for those happy to pay for it and accept the higher accident rates etc...

[DanceswithUnix]

Does make me wonder why/how people panic, I remember somebody on the motorway speeding and saying the accelerator was stuck down... dip the clutch and turn the engine off...

Sadly my drama was in a borrowed automatic so no clutch and whilst clearly I had to turn the engine off I wasn't sure what the auto box was going to do (answer: emit large amounts of smoke but apparently suffer no lasting damage). It was also on a dual carriageway, so 70mph but happened just before the start of a long hill down to a busy & backed up roundabout.

A surprising number of people have said that they wouldn't know what to do if they had been in that situation. I usually suggest that being in that situation tends to clear the mind quite rapidly, and I'm sure they would cope

Edit to add: In your example, dipping the clutch would just get the engine bouncing off the rev limiter and would probably freak people out even more. Just turn it off, if your breaks are as good as a Clio then you will need every bit of engine breaking you can get as things like ABS and power steering are now turned off.

[theleader]

Hopefully when robot controlled cars crash, they can swap details via either Bluetooth or Wifi!