I was wondering what thoughts members have on the impact of driverless cars. I believe that it will fundamentally change the motoring industry and a few others too. Assuming that the technology and insurance issues are sorted then.
1. fewer people will learn to drive, especially in cities (it's happening already in London)
2. fewer people will want to own a car at all (my niece told me over Xmas that she uses a a service called Zipcar where you can hire a car or van just for a few hours if necessary)
3. old people who dread losing their licence will be able to call up a car to take them somewhere so that they retain their independence for longer
4 if you don't own the car you don't care what make or model it is.
5 you can go to town and tell your car to go and find itself a car park (which will be much more compact as the doors wont need to open)
6 If I am going on a long journey will I need an overnight hotel ?
7 what happens to airport long term car parks ?
8. only old folks like us will actually want to own a car.

Discuss.............

Just as long as there is no "impact" from driverless cars, I don't have a problem. Luddites we cannot be!  10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

Id be fine in one, Mrs G would still fall out with it for not choosing her preferred route and for parking too far away from the supermarket door ( and yes it would drop her off at the door - not close enough ) At work
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Last edited by chicken george on 3rd Jan 2015 10:31 am. Edited 1 time in total

dunkley201 wrote:

Just as long as there is no "impact" from driverless cars, I don't have a problem. Luddites we cannot be!

With current technology we can't even produce a reliable satnav system - what chance of a reliable (and safe) driverless car system then?

Definitely a no-no for me.

Most accidents are within 5 km of home.

I doubt it would work in our local streets.

Water main burst, both ends of the street blocked off with witches hats. I had to manually move a few to negotiate a path around them to get out of the street.

Truck blocking a street nearby. Is the system going to make a manoeuvre that is technically not allowed to prevent a queue of irate car drivers from blowing their gaskets.

New pothole which would do serious damage to car, further more not seen in afternoon blinding sunlight, plus the other handful I always avoid. Avoiding it means crossing centre line to some degree.

Cars parked to absolute corner of intersection. Situation is totally blind, enter at own risk, plus watch out for bicycles and powered skate board riders who think they have 18 lives.

The 4 local side roads where drivers are constantly illegally turning right onto the main road, blind intersections, plus avoiding pot holes.

Satellite availability. Some years ago farmers in Australia could not plant or sow etc. There were no satellites available between 2 and 4 pm. Governments could switch off the system, or people hacking it to really get up our goats.

Italy!?

I like to see a driverless system work in Italy. The fine tolerances they drive to, and it is to the mm. Plus the mad car drivers for siesta. I would find it hard to believe that any system could compete. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

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What a dull, lifeless world it will be with driverless cars, are we destined just to vegetate & just simply do nothing for ourselves?
Wouldn't trust it anyway.

Can see the point I guess in Inner Cities only but then if that was the case it would be better to have cars mounted on rails to take wherever in a said city hassle free & safe with no conjestion etc etc. (Past) Freelander 2 HSE 2010 MY In Rimini Red.
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Most of you are missing the point and thinking about the restrictions imposed by current technology. Driverless cars in say 30 years time will use a mixture of visual and sound inputs plus GPS and other vehicular awareness in the same way that humans do. We will also have a generation totally dependent upon them. A hundred years ago virtually everyone knew how to ride a horse (and few can now) and people would not have believed it possible to drive at 70+mph listening to hi fi class music. Since then we have built houses with driveways and garages and had to provide car parks etc. I believe that the impact of driverless cars will be way beyond what we can imagine now,
eg
a do you need insurance?
b will you be allowed to do any maintenance on your car at all without suitable insurance cover (death of small garages perhaps)
c. return to town houses without garage or parking spaces
d cars will no longer be an aspirational purchase, you will buy transport.

Kill me now, deprived of one of my greatest pleasures

A no no for me. It's my one pleasure in life, put the dog in the car and away for the day. Also I may end up unemployed, starts with cars it will eventually find its way in buses. 21MY Defender 90 S 3.0 D200

One benefit might be that we could go back to the old days when a guy would get stoned out his mind in the pub and his mates would put him on his horse who would then take him home. Real progress.

Interesting dialogue developing about the recent air crash in Indonesia and how it looks similar the Air France crash in the Atlantic a few years ago. The view seems to be developing that the planes are getting so sophisticated that when problems occur they are finding that the pilots don't know what to do as they have so little practice at flying unaided. I understand that most car drivers are currently unaware that things like ABS, DSC, brake assisted steering are already helping them

EYorkshire wrote:

Kill me now, deprived of one of my greatest pleasures

yup add me to that list. I used public transport and a helicopter to commute, so the only time I do any driving is for my own needs or simply for the fun of it.

I still doubt I'll see it gain any momentum in my life time - and I'm 27

Not for me but it makes sense to have old biddies in them rather than have them either crawling along at 15mph or going the wrong way down the motorway.

One thing I do not think a computer will cope with is the standoff at a mini roundabout when everyone is giving way to each other. It requires one driver to make a move but the driverless car might crash in more ways than one

Funny that Kolar should mention pilots. That Virgin Atlantic plane that did an emergency landing at Gatwick last week, was piloted with real skill and experience. A computer/autopilot would not have managed that and is no match for a quality pilot. LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
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The pilot coped admirably under pressure...he did bounce it though, that puts twice the strain on the under carriage, computers would not have bounced it.

A computer/autopilot would have done the job but without the need for fawning praise, not that it lessens his skills, it merely demonstrates that we will be victims of our own demise.