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Given the current electorate in the United States, I think it would be nigh-impossible that human-driving cars would be banned. Notwithstanding the fact that t

Given the current electorate in the United States, I think it would be nigh-impossible that human-driving cars would be banned. Notwithstanding the fact that the cost to equip every vehicle on the road with self-driving technology would be wildly expensive in the short term, Americans respond vigorously to threats to freedoms that are ingrained in their culture (visceral freedoms, not freedoms that are less tangible, such as electronic privacy). Examples: firearms, tobacco, alcohol. I could foresee this happening in one or two Western European countries, though I would expect Germany and Central Europe to hold out (the German electorate resists regulation that impedes the speed and power of their automobiles). An aside: how would a car being self-driving affect the owner's ability to direct it wherever he or she pleases?

lukaslalinsky 11y ago
Self-driving cars will always have limitations. It's just not possible to make it ready for all kinds of road or even off-road surfaces. Fast-forward into future, if human-driven cars get banned, there will be no reason for self-driving cars to have manual controls and the only option for car will be to refuse to go into a situation it can't handle. I very much believe in gradual improvements and that is what many large car manufacturers are doing. I can easily imagine not needing to control my car on a highway, in a city, or when parking it, but I expect the manual controls will stay there for a very very long time.
joeclark77 11y ago
If the car is driven by a computer at Google, then it can be "hijacked" by the computer. A few years after mandating that everybody have self-driving cars, the argument will be that certain roads don't need to be in the system because there's far too little traffic. After that, it'll be argued that Google should be able to divert you away from certain areas of town where there's been high traffic or other hazards, without asking you. Then it'll be argued that the government can mandate certain routes in order to preserve the environment or some such excuse. Then it'll be seen as entirely reasonable that all auto "routes" be managed by city planners who want to control noise, pollution, etc, for your own good. It'll be incremental. Fortunately, as you say, there are still a majority of sane people who vote in the USA. Will that still be true a generation later?
- dTal 11y ago
  >city planners who want to control noise, pollution, etc I would predict electric cars before self-driving cars, so they won't have that excuse at least.
  - joeclark77 11y ago
    I would predict that I'll never drive one of those deathtraps either!

lukaslalinsky 11y ago

Self-driving cars will always have limitations. It's just not possible to make it ready for all kinds of road or even off-road surfaces. Fast-forward into future, if human-driven cars get banned, there will be no reason for self-driving cars to have manual controls and the only option for car will be to refuse to go into a situation it can't handle. I very much believe in gradual improvements and that is what many large car manufacturers are doing. I can easily imagine not needing to control my car on a highway, in a city, or when parking it, but I expect the manual controls will stay there for a very very long time.

joeclark77 11y ago

If the car is driven by a computer at Google, then it can be "hijacked" by the computer. A few years after mandating that everybody have self-driving cars, the argument will be that certain roads don't need to be in the system because there's far too little traffic. After that, it'll be argued that Google should be able to divert you away from certain areas of town where there's been high traffic or other hazards, without asking you. Then it'll be argued that the government can mandate certain routes in order to preserve the environment or some such excuse. Then it'll be seen as entirely reasonable that all auto "routes" be managed by city planners who want to control noise, pollution, etc, for your own good. It'll be incremental. Fortunately, as you say, there are still a majority of sane people who vote in the USA. Will that still be true a generation later?

dTal 11y ago
>city planners who want to control noise, pollution, etc I would predict electric cars before self-driving cars, so they won't have that excuse at least.
- joeclark77 11y ago
  I would predict that I'll never drive one of those deathtraps either!