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Singapore also has a political framework that could force self-driving car adoption if the powers that be want it. Things that could be mandated such as self-d

Singapore also has a political framework that could force self-driving car adoption if the powers that be want it. Things that could be mandated such as self-driving only car lanes and motorways could be possible given the small size of Singapore and the powerful nature of the government. It would be unthinkable at present in America to force all cars on certain roads to be self-driving only. Singapore has the sort of culture that values "safety" over freedom. In America, for better or worse, it would take a long time to mandate these things if they were even possible (considering that the same laws would need to be passed at least 52 times for states and territories). America has checks and balances--everybody gets their say.

ktRolster 10y ago
>It would be unthinkable in America to force all cars on certain roads to be self-driving only. We have carpool lanes
- chris_va 10y ago
  And private tollways
- jasonjei 10y ago
  That's only one lane that is enforced to a varying degree (hardly in CA), and subject to cheating. I think in order for cars to become safer we need to force the human out of the driver's seat. Even if we had a hybrid system, self-driving is still subject to other human drivers. Try taking away the keys of Americans. I ride a motorcycle and I would miss riding if it came to forcing people to adopt self-driving, but that's how we reduce highway deaths. Edit: now that I think about it, cheating could be enforced by camera. Assuming the road had a computer network (like a much more reliable Bluetooth), I am sure cars could identify an unauthorized manually-driven vehicle and alert authorities.
  - superuser2 10y ago
    I suspect there'd be a strong selection bias where the only people who'd continue to drive manually would be the better (or at least more attentive) drivers. To enforce that, you could make the licensing regime more like an FAA private pilot rating and less like a token ritual for access to your God-given right to drive no matter how incompetent.
    - mikerichards 10y ago
      yes, it'll be a slow slog, but Americans aren't stupid and understand that fully autonomous roads are controlled by government and bad.
dxbydt 10y ago
>It would be unthinkable in America to force all cars on certain roads to be self-driving only. There are private cities (Celebration, FL), private housing communities (1000s of them), private large corporate campuses, private shipping yards, private military complexes, private airports, industrial hangars - lots of places where you could safely force all cars to be self-driving without any governmental interference.
- jasonjei 10y ago
  But I think for it to have meaningful impact we need interstate public roads to have self-driving. I haven't looked at the statistics, but most deadly accidents I read of late happen on interstate roads. Edit: It's unthinkable at present but I believe if a city-state like Singapore undertook the experiment and it was successful it could eventually spread around the world like HD adoption. (That's why I said it would take a long time to happen in America.)
  - jessriedel 10y ago
    But Singapore doesn't help much with that because its only 20 miles across.
    - lokedhs 10y ago
      Singapore may be small, but within that space (a bit over 700 square km) it has everything larger countries have. Towns, expressways, nature reserves, military bases, airports, etc. Thus, it is an excellent place for testing such things as self driving cars.
      - jessriedel 10y ago
        The amount of miles driven per year on highway, which is the issue I'm addressing, is much too low. Just need higher throughput.
        lokedhs 10y ago
CyberDildonics 10y ago
> the powers that be That is the long and short of their political framework
mikerichards 10y ago
That's a good point. Singapore is an autocratic state and very small. It'll be decades (maybe a century) before Americans give up their right to freely drive their cars. The are huge individual american rights to move around freely that can't be denied.
L_Rahman 10y ago
From a product development and deployment perspective, it also makes a lot sense to start in Singapore. Unless a product is completely risk-free, it makes sense to validate outside of the largest and most valuable market.
mark_l_watson 10y ago
+1 I think you have it right, the political/social frameworks of Singapore could 'make this happen.' I worked in Singapore in April and I loved the place. I felt very safe walking around at night for exercise, and the whole place was well run. I have read some criticisms of the government but people there seem happy, seemed to be employed, etc. A nice place and I would love to go back there!

ktRolster 10y ago

>It would be unthinkable in America to force all cars on certain roads to be self-driving only. We have carpool lanes

chris_va 10y ago
And private tollways
jasonjei 10y ago
That's only one lane that is enforced to a varying degree (hardly in CA), and subject to cheating. I think in order for cars to become safer we need to force the human out of the driver's seat. Even if we had a hybrid system, self-driving is still subject to other human drivers. Try taking away the keys of Americans. I ride a motorcycle and I would miss riding if it came to forcing people to adopt self-driving, but that's how we reduce highway deaths. Edit: now that I think about it, cheating could be enforced by camera. Assuming the road had a computer network (like a much more reliable Bluetooth), I am sure cars could identify an unauthorized manually-driven vehicle and alert authorities.
- superuser2 10y ago
  I suspect there'd be a strong selection bias where the only people who'd continue to drive manually would be the better (or at least more attentive) drivers. To enforce that, you could make the licensing regime more like an FAA private pilot rating and less like a token ritual for access to your God-given right to drive no matter how incompetent.
  - mikerichards 10y ago
    yes, it'll be a slow slog, but Americans aren't stupid and understand that fully autonomous roads are controlled by government and bad.

dxbydt 10y ago

>It would be unthinkable in America to force all cars on certain roads to be self-driving only. There are private cities (Celebration, FL), private housing communities (1000s of them), private large corporate campuses, private shipping yards, private military complexes, private airports, industrial hangars - lots of places where you could safely force all cars to be self-driving without any governmental interference.

jasonjei 10y ago
But I think for it to have meaningful impact we need interstate public roads to have self-driving. I haven't looked at the statistics, but most deadly accidents I read of late happen on interstate roads. Edit: It's unthinkable at present but I believe if a city-state like Singapore undertook the experiment and it was successful it could eventually spread around the world like HD adoption. (That's why I said it would take a long time to happen in America.)
- jessriedel 10y ago
  But Singapore doesn't help much with that because its only 20 miles across.
  - lokedhs 10y ago
    Singapore may be small, but within that space (a bit over 700 square km) it has everything larger countries have. Towns, expressways, nature reserves, military bases, airports, etc. Thus, it is an excellent place for testing such things as self driving cars.
    - jessriedel 10y ago
      The amount of miles driven per year on highway, which is the issue I'm addressing, is much too low. Just need higher throughput.
      - lokedhs 10y ago

CyberDildonics 10y ago

> the powers that be That is the long and short of their political framework

mikerichards 10y ago

That's a good point. Singapore is an autocratic state and very small. It'll be decades (maybe a century) before Americans give up their right to freely drive their cars. The are huge individual american rights to move around freely that can't be denied.

L_Rahman 10y ago

From a product development and deployment perspective, it also makes a lot sense to start in Singapore. Unless a product is completely risk-free, it makes sense to validate outside of the largest and most valuable market.

mark_l_watson 10y ago

+1 I think you have it right, the political/social frameworks of Singapore could 'make this happen.' I worked in Singapore in April and I loved the place. I felt very safe walking around at night for exercise, and the whole place was well run. I have read some criticisms of the government but people there seem happy, seemed to be employed, etc. A nice place and I would love to go back there!