I've been researching the so-called "driver less cars" and came up with a problem in their implementation.
If you are in the left seat (US drivers' side), and the car runs into a vehicle that has an actual driver, are you listed as the 'driver" and held responsible?
Think of all the possible lawsuits. Would the person who wrote the software be responsible for the cars' actions.
Would the manufacturer of the car be responsible? How about the positioning systems (GPS), the dealer, the company that laid the wire in the road, the company that made the wire, the power company that provided the electricity that keeps the wire energized, the company that made the plugs, switches, circuit breakers.
just think about it. If you have a wreck involving a "driver less car" it could be decades before you could be compensated. Or could it be just as long to get cleared from being the 'driver' that caused the accident?
You make some good points, although I don't think they need a wire in the road...... but reasons like you cited will keep the technology from being fully implemented for a while...... insurance companies are already worried.............
I think insurance companies are up to the challenge. My wife's company has been working on the challenge for more than 5 years. I'm guessing that in large part, it will be the insurance companies who write the contracts we all have to sign before we can ride in a wireless car.
I'm also guessing it will be insurance company lobbyists who write the new legislation that will surely be needed for this new era of transportation.
I suspect that overall the technology will eventually work and there will be fewer traffic fatalities.
It is way too early in the development of this technology to draw any conclusions about the peripheral impact on society. But for now I think it is safe to say that these vehicles will still have all of the controls necessary for direct driver control so, yes, I would expect the driver to be responsible for the control of the vehicle just as a captain is responsible for the control of his ship even when on autopilot. But eventually there will be lawsuits which set the precedents for how responsibility is assigned to various situations. I'm sure a similar evolutionary process existed when we changed from horses to the horseless carriage.
I mildly follow this story as my son is interested in it.
I found this article and thought it was funny - "technology foiled by bad infrastructure"
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-autonomous-infrastructure-insig-idUSKCN0WX131
I mildly follow this story as my son is interested in it.
I found this article and thought it was funny - "technology foiled by bad infrastructure"
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-autonomous-infrastructure-insig-idUSKCN0WX131
Interesting. But I think self-driving vehicles are the least of our concerns when it comes to crumbling infrastructure.
What's next, thumbless hitch-hikers?
