Driverless cars in Britain? Why car innovation can only stretch so far

[Brink]

Unless autonomous cars also levitate, I'm not interested, and nor is my vehicle's suspension.

There's a phrase in Blighty which many drivers will respond to with a rueful, knowing smirk and nod: "We used to drive on the left of the road, now we drive on what's left of the road."

The last time I ventured out of my flat to run a few errands and pop round to a friend's for a hot mug of tea, I chose to go by motorcycle. The ride went to plan, until twice in rapid succession, crater-like potholes filled with a soupy grit that could not be avoided — without hitting motorists on the other side of the road — made the bike shudder and rise above the tarmac. Within seconds, needles of pain coursed up my back. By the evening, I couldn't move off the sofa, and it took two weeks to recover with the help of my physiotherapist, who realigned and pushed the seized muscles back into place caused by the worn and cracked road surface.

This is only one of many, many tales which document the state of British roads, a land where cyclists have died after hitting potholes, taxi drivers sigh over taking their work vehicle back to the garage for axel and suspension fixes yet again — and the problem has been steadfastly ignored (in the same way as the pension black hole... wait, do we still talk about that?).

Read more at: Driverless cars in Britain? Why car innovation can only stretch so far | ZDNet

 

[z3r010]

Why on earth would you have a woman write a motoring article she should be glad of autonomous cars it would cut out all the stress she gets while driving and make the road safer for us men who know how to drive properly.

 

[Brink]

Why on earth would you have a woman write a motoring article she should be glad of autonomous cars it would cut out all the stress she gets while driving and make the road safer for us men who know how to drive properly.

Me steps back to avoid getting hit with the broom handle that Angie is fixing to start chasing you with.

 

[z3r010]

.

 

[Pauly]

A statement of reckless abandon, but it does get interesting when you start to think about insurance liabilities
Auto parking cars require the "driver" to engage sort form of control for them to operate wonder if it would be the same for autonomous vehicle but then would kinda defeat the point

Hmmm woman, machine, woman, machine oooh I don't know

 

[A Guy]

I see Googles driverless cars almost every day. I mean, there is someone behind the wheel, they are just not driving Funny thing is, they speed if the traffic is flowing better then the speed limit. A Guy

 

[z3r010]

I've seen quite a lot of stuff on the Google cars in California and for me it would be much safe to have roads full of those than the idiots we have driving atm.

 

[A Guy]

Lol, I drive 1000 miles a week. I see some crazy things. Haven't seen a driverless car in a accident yet. A Guy

 

[bigmck]

I have never seen a "driverless car". How do they know how to follow the road?

 

[andrew129260]

I have never seen a "driverless car". How do they know how to follow the road?

Some good reading and links here:

Google driverless car - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


It is pretty impressive what google is doing.

 

[A Guy]

I have never seen a "driverless car". How do they know how to follow the road?

Pigeons

The white car 1/2 way down the page is what I see.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/t...ss-cars-no-brakes-or-steering-wheel.html?_r=0

How does it work?

Powered by an electric motor with around a 100 mile range, the car uses a combination of sensors and software to locate itself in the real world combined with highly accurate digital maps. A GPS is used, just like the satellite navigation systems in most cars, to get a rough location of the car, at which point radar, lasers and cameras take over to monitor the world around the car, 360-degrees.

The software can recognise objects, people, cars, road marking, signs and traffic lights, obeying the rules of the road and allowing for multiple unpredictable hazards, including cyclists. It can even detect road works and safely navigate around them.

The new prototype has more sensors fitted to it that can see further (up to 600 feet in all directions) and in greater detail than the ones available on the previous repurposed Lexus and Toyota vehicles.

Source

A Guy

 

[bigmck]

According to your link A Guy, it only goes 25 mph. That is pretty slow and if it ever got hit it would be like an eggshell. I don't know about that. I think I will stick with my truck.

 

[A Guy]

No, I see them on the freeway going at least 70. They are Toyotas and Lexus, normal looking except for that spinning thing on the roof, and various gadgets outside. Maybe that new model with no steering wheel goes 25?

A Guy

 

[bigmck]

No, I see them on the freeway going at least 70. They are Toyotas and Lexus, normal looking except for that spinning thing on the roof, and various gadgets outside. Maybe that new model with no steering wheel goes 25?

A Guy

Yes, it is the new model.