In other news (apolitical thread)...

[Cincydawg]

I'm less worried about a fatality and more worried about the fact that tech support for these things is incapable of taking timely action.

I'm guessing complete failures are quite rare but will get a lot of attention.  Over time, folks will come to understand your chances of getting "locked in" are remote.  So to speak.

[FearlessF]

Well, it's probably (maybe?) still better than that result with humans driving. 

agreed - I see them every day

[847badgerfan]

Well, it's probably (maybe?) still better than that result with humans driving. 

Down here? Hell yes.

Florida drivers:

Can't see. Can't hear. Can't walk.

LET'S DRIVE!!

[betarhoalphadelta]

The issue for autonomy--to me--is liability. 

I'd love an autonomous vehicle. But it's not "autonomous" unless I can be pass-out drunk in the front left seat, my vehicle mows down a line of nuns on their way to mass, and I have ZERO legal liability for it. Anything less than that isn't "autonomous", it's just ADAS. 

That's something that Waymo has. Not that I've used Waymo yet, but just like a driver-operated taxi, it absolves me as a rider from liability. 

Right now I don't know exactly how close Tesla is to that. For their robotaxi they apparently will have to launch with teleoperation capability, which is also the case with Waymo, and which obviously won't scale for a vehicle sold to the mass public.

[utee94]

Did y'all hear that???  Bwar wants his driverless uber to mow down a line of nuns on their way to mass.

I get it that you're atheistic but man, that's uncool.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Did y'all hear that???  Bwar wants his driverless uber to mow down a line of nuns on their way to mass.

I get it that you're atheistic but man, that's uncool.

Listen, I know you profess to be a misanthrope...

...but of late you're no competition. I hate people enough these days that I'm not sure I even like myself. 

[utee94]

Well if mowing down a line of nuns is nothing more than misanthropy to you, then you've definitely got me beat.

I heard my 17yo daughter echo one of my usual sentiments the other day.  She was frustrated with something going on at school or in band leadership or something, and she said, "I hate people."

I just smiled and hugged her.  That's my girl.

[betarhoalphadelta]

[MikeDeTiger]

Did y'all hear that???  Bwar wants his driverless uber to mow down a line of nuns on their way to mass.

I get it that you're atheistic but man, that's uncool.

Meh....a lot of 17th century Protestants would've wanted it too, probably.  

[bayareabadger]

I'm less worried about a fatality and more worried about the fact that tech support for these things is incapable of taking timely action.

I rode in one. It honestly was pretty cool. It was also a little weird because it drove more safely  than most people.

i’ve heard the biggest issues are that it doesn’t do certain intuitive things and if it were to do something wrong, it doesn’t have certain human characteristics that can help it stop doing that. (The two examples I heard were that it didn’t know out of the way from a fire truck and it also dragged someone at some point because obviously it can’t hear someone screaming)

[Cincydawg]

We've used Lyft probably 12 times to the airport, the drivers we've had are  very safey conscious and good drivers.  So far.

I'm OK walking to MARTA, but for foreign flights it's less convenient especially if one has a lot of luggage.  My wife prefers Lyft.  MARTA for us is $2, for both, Lyft is ~$40 with tip.  

She doesn't really like riding on MARTA.

[jgvol]

We've used Lyft probably 12 times to the airport, the drivers we've had are  very safey conscious and good drivers.  So far.

I'm OK walking to MARTA, but for foreign flights it's less convenient especially if one has a lot of luggage.  My wife prefers Lyft.  MARTA for us is $2, for both, Lyft is ~$40 with tip. 

She doesn't really like riding on MARTA.

Saving cash isn’t an inherently female trait.  

[OrangeAfroMan]

Waymo is great.  You just hop in and hang out, enjoy a conversation with your friends.  It's SO much safer than a person.

But yeah, the 0.01% situations flummox them....I was driving in a storm and some red lights were out.  Like blank.  So people are taking turns like a 4-way stop.  The Waymo didn't know what to do.  It wouldn't take its turn.  Made me think it sensed the red light/intersection, but without a flashing light or a normally-operating light, it was stuck.

[Cincydawg]

Saving cash isn’t an inherently female trait. 

My wife is actually very conscious of spending money, she often talks me out of it.  In some areas, she does prefer a more expensive option.  The international terminal here isn't directly connected to the MARTA station, so it does make more sense to use Lyft to get there.  If we have large suitcases, if can be cumbersome to walk the 0.8 miles to a MARTA station, and sometimes the weather isn't conducive.

Anyway, we're spending money to fly obviously and the extra $40 isn't usually a large chunk in relative terms.  My neighbor often is able to take us, and in return we schlep him back and forth often as well, it's about 10 miles.  Traffic of course can be unpleasant.