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When autonomous vehicles become super safe, will the size of the vehicles more accurately reflect how many people are in the vehicle? Cars that can carry 5 peo
by pvsteve 3y ago
When autonomous vehicles become super safe, will the size of the vehicles more accurately reflect how many people are in the vehicle? Cars that can carry 5 people when the average occupancy is 1.5 in the US seems wasteful just because people feel safer in big cars.
It seems like we should have a lot more small single occupant vehicles that are effectively caged motorcycles, but actually safe.
- jessriedel 3y agoI think this is where we get to eventually when there are no more human drivers and so the roads become extremely safe. Until then, you need a certain amount of mass to protect you from idiots, no matter how safe the computer is driving. Given that mass, adding three extra seats is little additional cost, and gives you additional flexibility in dispatch (reducing wait times). But to your point, they will probably have a "large" size pretty soon, a la Uber XL (although it will only come after the first no-steering-wheel vehicle is widely deployed).
- xnx 3y agoExactly. It's interesting to think about a distant future where Waymo vehicles are more like "people movers" and don't need impact resistance, seatbelts, airbags, etc. because the risk of collision is so low.
- acover 3y agoCan you build a small but safe car? Mass, height, etc are key variables in a crash.