4 ms·

what i've heard a lot of people say is that that human drivers would still drive in rural and suburban areas. but most of the time spent driving is on large wel

what i've heard a lot of people say is that that human drivers would still drive in rural and suburban areas. but most of the time spent driving is on large well established highways which are accurately mapped and could easily be handled by automation.

protomyth 10y ago
What do you consider "large well established highways"?
- dx034 10y ago
  For example all interstates in the US. I guess a significant proportion of trucks spends more than half their time on interstates. And if the driver can relax there, they are more alert again when driving in the city for the last miles.
  - galdosdi 10y ago
    I wouldn't be so certain that "all interstates in the US" are uniformly easy to drive. A specific counterexample: the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) is technically signed as I-278, but poor maintenance, frequent and shortened ramps and interchanges, and idiosyncratic local driving culture would IMHO make it quite a bit more challenging for automated driving than the proverbial four lane interstate through a midwestern cornfield in the middle of nowhere that you probably were thinking of...
    - dx034 10y ago
      For trucks it's still easier to drive there automatically as they have less lane changing than other cars. And your example is from a city. I think the time drivers spent in a city is not what makes the job so hard, it's the endless hours driving through the middle of nowhere. Automating that could be a huge gain already. As an example, consider freight from LA to SF. The driver would still drive until he leaves LA, the truck would drive up the I-5 and the driver takes over again south of SF. In the end, the driver only had to drive for 30% of the time and could be more alert during that time (and spend his time with sth useful in the meantime).
  - protomyth 10y ago
    "I guess a significant proportion of trucks spends more than half their time on interstates." I would have to look at actual figures, but my gut feeling given the truck routes around us is that might be suspect. I'll echo galdosdi on the rest, the interstates aren't exactly easy.
- TheCoelacanth 10y ago
  Limited access highways that have on/off ramps instead of intersections.

protomyth 10y ago

What do you consider "large well established highways"?

dx034 10y ago
For example all interstates in the US. I guess a significant proportion of trucks spends more than half their time on interstates. And if the driver can relax there, they are more alert again when driving in the city for the last miles.
- galdosdi 10y ago
  I wouldn't be so certain that "all interstates in the US" are uniformly easy to drive. A specific counterexample: the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) is technically signed as I-278, but poor maintenance, frequent and shortened ramps and interchanges, and idiosyncratic local driving culture would IMHO make it quite a bit more challenging for automated driving than the proverbial four lane interstate through a midwestern cornfield in the middle of nowhere that you probably were thinking of...
  - dx034 10y ago
    For trucks it's still easier to drive there automatically as they have less lane changing than other cars. And your example is from a city. I think the time drivers spent in a city is not what makes the job so hard, it's the endless hours driving through the middle of nowhere. Automating that could be a huge gain already. As an example, consider freight from LA to SF. The driver would still drive until he leaves LA, the truck would drive up the I-5 and the driver takes over again south of SF. In the end, the driver only had to drive for 30% of the time and could be more alert during that time (and spend his time with sth useful in the meantime).
- protomyth 10y ago
  "I guess a significant proportion of trucks spends more than half their time on interstates." I would have to look at actual figures, but my gut feeling given the truck routes around us is that might be suspect. I'll echo galdosdi on the rest, the interstates aren't exactly easy.
TheCoelacanth 10y ago
Limited access highways that have on/off ramps instead of intersections.