Driverless cars in New Zealand

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Driverless cars in New Zealand - thoughts?

RUKI

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#214874 1-Jun-2017 09:35

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11867229

Quote: " ....a quirk in New Zealand's transport law that meant there was no requirement for vehicles to have a driver." .....

...significant barriers to the growth of the industry exist in road safety laws, uncertainty about legal responsibility for crashes and even such issues as hacking into the software controlling the vehicles..." end of quote.

And what do you think about it?

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Mad Scientist
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#1792953 1-Jun-2017 10:26

if you can program them to always stay 2m away from pedestrians and cyclists no matter what, even if it causes a head on collision between driverless car and on coming/side coming car/power pole/under a 30 wheeler/etc then go for it. hopefully in most scenarios it is able to brake and avoid those people instead of driving around them (regardless of what it will hit).

dclegg

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#1792956 1-Jun-2017 10:30

It'll make driving in Auckland a helluva lot safer, I'm sure. Auckland drivers are the worst! Far too aggressive and impatient.

robjg63

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#1792971 1-Jun-2017 10:55

dclegg:

It'll make driving in Auckland a helluva lot safer, I'm sure. Auckland drivers are the worst! Far too aggressive and impatient.

Not to mention how many drivers are busy fiddling with their phones and likewise pedestrains who never seem to even bother looking when crossing streets etc.

A few years ago I might have had concerns about it - but these days I would trust a self drive car more than the non attentive drivers and pedestrians.

Also could have the big plus of people not actually needing to own their own cars. If you can just call up a 'taxi' that drives itself safely and drops you off wherever you need to go - why own a car?

Bring them on.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

vexxxboy

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#1792976 1-Jun-2017 11:01

the reason i drive a car is because i enjoy it and i still dont trust what they will do in a life or death situation .

Common sense is not as common as you think.

cadman

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#1792977 1-Jun-2017 11:01

dclegg:

It'll make driving in Auckland a helluva lot safer, I'm sure. Auckland drivers are the worst! Far too aggressive and impatient.

They've got nothing on Dunedinites for bad driving.

MikeAqua

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#1792978 1-Jun-2017 11:01

How will they go backing the boat trailer into the driveway?

Mike

dclegg

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#1793003 1-Jun-2017 11:02

vexxxboy:

the reason i drive a car is because i enjoy it and i still dont trust what they will do in a life or death situation .

Once the AI is sufficiently advanced, they will do far better than the majority of humans on the road. Reaction times alone will be far superior.

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dclegg

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#1793004 1-Jun-2017 11:03

MikeAqua:

How will they go backing the boat trailer into the driveway?

With sensors on the trailer, quite well I'd expect.

reven

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#1793005 1-Jun-2017 11:10

i'm all for them, they would be a lot safer, ease road congestion (instead of one person breaking on the motorway, then the person behind them and so on and so on until the motorway comes to a stop cos of one idiot at the front).

they will be safer, more efficient, quicker, cheaper. yes there are hurdles to over come, but they will be and it will be awesome. I think I would still like to own a car, otherwise picking up things might be a pain. although, imagine buying something, sending a car to pick it up and deliver it to you. e.g. a table or something off trademe, the seller just loads it in the driverless car, then it gets delivered to you. that could be nice.

vexxxboy

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#1793010 1-Jun-2017 11:24

dclegg:

vexxxboy:

the reason i drive a car is because i enjoy it and i still dont trust what they will do in a life or death situation .

Once the AI is sufficiently advanced, they will do far better than the majority of humans on the road. Reaction times alone will be far superior.

dont care about reaction times , i mean what is the car programmed to do if a child or person runs out or an animal, who does it decide to save, if avoiding the person means you end up dead.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

MikeAqua

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#1793013 1-Jun-2017 11:28

vexxxboy:

the reason i drive a car is because i enjoy it and i still don't trust what they will do in a life or death situation .

When we all have to have driver less cars I think it will be very safe but incredibly boring.

Journeys will probably be longer and slower because those systems will be inherently very conservative - so car companies don't get sued. Think 70kmh where you do 100kmh now - on a good road. On a narrow winding stretch of state highway - probably painfully slow.

A car trip will become more like a bus trip. But everyone can watch Netflix or drink to pass the time.

I suspect I'll still own a manual drive car for the enjoyment of driving - even if I have to use it on a private track.

The period when some cars are driver-less and some aren't is potentially concerning. Could a diver-less car anticipate a driving failure or by the driver of conventional vehicle - or an insecure load on the vehicle ahead?

I also suspect that causing driver-less cars to take evasive action will become a bit of a sport for drivers of regular cars with a certain mentality.

Mike

afe66

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#1793017 1-Jun-2017 11:31

Probably better than the current minimum driving standards of a 16-17 year old.

I'm pretty sure an autonomous car will be much better at preserving separations distances, distractions, frustrations than that 16-17 year old.

As we all know times change with technology and there were those in the past who also probably said similar things about the joy of looking after a horse.

Ive got friends who live in London who used to be "car mad" as teenagers but very rarely drive now because public transport is more convenient.

Interesting times.

frankv

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#1793022 1-Jun-2017 11:39

I think that most NZ open road isn't good enough for self-driving cars; exceptions would be motorways and expressways. I'm not sure about city streets.

So you will still end up doing a lot of driving for years to come.

MikeAqua

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#1793026 1-Jun-2017 11:57

dclegg:

MikeAqua:

How will they go backing the boat trailer into the driveway?

With sensors on the trailer, quite well I'd expect.

Sensors on trailers would help - assuming compatibility between car and trailer ...

I'm wondering how you communicate to the car to: -

Put it beside the garage,

but closer to the hedge than the garage, still leaving enough room to walk down the hedge side

and to go onto the driveway at a slight angle so the trailer doesn't bottom out then straighten up,

and watch the windshield on the boat doesn't hit the low hanging branch on the silver birch

and back very slowly while the antenna catches the eave so it bends rather than breaks

and back it in far enough to hit the rear chocks but not go over them

and when its in place go forward just a bit so the coupling can release.

We humans actually manage complexity quite well at low speeds.

Mike

MikeB4

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#1793028 1-Jun-2017 12:04

My thoughts are and probably wrong.....

1. It will be along time before the technology is ready for mainstream and has consumer acceptance.

2. It will be a very long time before they are at a price that will bring about general uptake.

3. They will be okay in large metropolitan centres and specialist applications but with NZ's makeup I cannot see them going much beyond there.

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