self driving cars

[byu71]

I wonder if the day will come when someone gets sued for negligent manual driving when autopilot was an option.

My computer has glitches now and then. If there is a glitch in the car and crashes into someone, who pays?

Do I have to buy insurance for the vehicle or does the manufacturer?

[Jeff Lebowski]

My computer has glitches now and then. If there is a glitch in the car and crashes into someone, who pays?

Do I have to buy insurance for the vehicle or does the manufacturer?

If autopilot is 90% safer, your insurance will go down. Doesn't have to be perfect.

[byu71]

If autopilot is 90% safer, your insurance will go down. Doesn't have to be perfect.

but I am still responsible, not the manufacturer?

[Applejack]

You guys, lay off Walter. It's unsafe being driven by machines: there is a reason why airplanes and trains DO NOT have autopilot options

[Walter Sobchak]

Note that in the fatal Tesla accident, the NHTSA determined that the driver had at least 7 seconds to react before he hit the semi truck and that the truck driver said the Tesla driver was watching a Harry Potter movie. Also note that Tesla's crash rate per million miles dropped by 40% after the introduction of their Autopilot system, which strengthens All-American's argument.

lol. The software also had 7 seconds to react, which is precisely my point. The software wasn't watching a movie.

[Walter Sobchak]

You guys, lay off Walter. It's unsafe being driven by machines: there is a reason why airplanes and trains DO NOT have autopilot options

Heh. You're right... when there is a direct route from my departure point to my destination, unencumbered by other obstacles and competing vehicles, autonomous driving will have arrived!

[creekster]

lol. The software also had 7 seconds to react, which is precisely my point. The software wasn't watching a movie.

your precise point was that the software had seven seconds to react? Or that it had the same time as the inattentive driver? One of those was your precise point?

[Jeff Lebowski]

If only there was a way to make software less error-prone and more robust over time.

[myboynoah]

I think reason ultimately wins that battle. And if not reason, then the insurance companies. If there is money to be saved by using autonomous vehicles, the insurance companies will drive human-operated automobiles off the road.

Gotta say that I disagree with you here, Walter. Self-driving cars are in their infancy. The tech will only continue to improve over the years; as it has done with software-controlled insulin pumps, and fly-by-wire planes, and robotic surgery, or the software that powers the space shuttle, or nuclear reactors.

Note that in the fatal Tesla accident, the NHTSA determined that the driver had at least 7 seconds to react before he hit the semi truck and that the truck driver said the Tesla driver was watching a Harry Potter movie. Also note that Tesla's crash rate per million miles dropped by 40% after the introduction of their Autopilot system, which strengthens All-American's argument.

but I am still responsible, not the manufacturer?

Why all this talk about insurance? This is going to kill the auto insurance industry. They'll want to keep self-drive vehicles on the road. That's where the real money is.

[All-American]

I wonder if the day will come when someone gets sued for negligent manual driving when autopilot was an option.

I seriously doubt that this will not happen. I think it far more likely that human-operated cars will get priced off the road than that autonomous vehicles won't be able to overcome initial expenses related to the allocation of liability. Eventually, insurers will greatly prefer the less expensive option.

[All-American]

but I am still responsible, not the manufacturer?

With the facts you just gave, it sounds like a products liability issue and the manufacturer would probably have to pay.

EDIT: . . . which, by the way, won't stop autonomous vehicles from taking over the road. The manufacturer will charge a little more knowing it will bear the liability should its defects cause an accident. The consumer will pay that little extra because the insurance rates for an autonomous car will be much lower, more than compensating for the upfront cost. And once again, society achieves highest value use irrespective of the initial allocation of property rights. Ronald Coase for the win. Again.

[jay santos]

Computers took over my job. Now self driving cars will drive my kids to soccer practice. Pretty soon robots will be programmed to have sex with my wife. I will be completely obsolete.

[Bo Diddley]

Self-driving bus involved in accident on its first day

The driver of the truck was cited after hitting the self-driving bus. The bus had stopped when it sensed the truck. Do engineers program in a horn-blast to alert the other vehicle?

[smokymountainrain]

Computers took over my job. Now self driving cars will drive my kids to soccer practice. Pretty soon robots will be programmed to have sex with my wife. I will be completely obsolete.

[Donuthole]

Self-driving bus involved in accident on its first day

The driver of the truck was cited after hitting the self-driving bus. The bus had stopped when it sensed the truck. Do engineers program in a horn-blast to alert the other vehicle?

Bump