Which generation will be the biggest owners of Slates?

[E90400K]

It would be far less expensive for the Government to simply pay the transportation costs of the small percentage of individuals who cannot meet reasonable driver skill tests and traffic behavior compliance.

 

[AZFox]

In Chris Barman's interview with the girly-men in baseball jersies she had a useful insight.

I think the theme and​

the thread that runs through that is​

like there's a feeling of independence​

and a feeling of freedom once you get​

that first vehicle and you can start to​

drive. And I think even when you think​

about like 2035,​

people are still going to want freedom​

and independence [in] how they get around​

and what they do.​

Source

 

[Doctors Do Little]

It would be far less expensive for the Government to simply pay the transportation costs of the small percentage of individuals who cannot meet reasonable driver skill tests and traffic behavior compliance.

Less expensive for whom? The tech is going to happen soon enough. Are you thinking it is easy to find safe/available/reliable drivers on demand at a reasonable price for disabled/elderly (not Uber or Uber Medical-which are nice ideas-until there is a wheelchair or complicated medical conditions involved)?

I’m for all of the above.

 

[sodamo]

It would be far less expensive for the Government to simply pay the transportation costs of the small percentage of individuals who cannot meet reasonable driver skill tests and traffic behavior compliance.

Pretty sure most cities have free or subsidized transportation for those who already don’t chose to work.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Pretty sure most cities have free or subsidized transportation for those who already don’t chose to work.

Not talking about those who are cable of working (or driving). Truly disabled, elderly, or both. What the government has provided is laughable in the best circumstances.

 

[sodamo]

Not talking about those who are cable of working (or driving). Truly disabled, elderly, or both. What the government has provided is laughable in the best circumstances.

Absolutely agree, unfortunately support for the disabled/elderly/ both gets degraded by the other category In most places.

 

[E90400K]

Less expensive for whom? The tech is going to happen soon enough. Are you thinking it is easy to find safe/available/reliable drivers on demand at a reasonable price for disabled/elderly (not Uber or Uber Medical-which are nice ideas-until there is a wheelchair or complicated medical conditions involved)?

I’m for all of the above.

The American taxpayer.

For 15 years in the last part of my career I spent time implementing a new nationwide transportation safety technology in the national air space. I worked directly with the FAA and know well how the US Department of Transportation operates. I do not see the Federal Government letting big tech and/or the legacy automobile manufacturing industry implement an autonomous driving environment without government intervention (read that as regulation). I also do not see a commercial implementation of autonomous driving getting past the tort law industry.

It may be possible to get the technology close, though ultimately, I do not see it being any magnitude safer than current human-based neural network system. The cost of the system to get an order of safety above what is now present will require a cost that is unaligned of the prospective benefits. Automated cars are going to have accidents with non-automated cars and with automated cars. Ground traffic has only two degrees of freedom to avoid collisions, and there are just too many variables to overcome to reduce collisions. To reduce the variables, surveillance technology and system redundancy will be mandated by the DOT, which means standardization. That reduces competitive technology development and lowers the profit motive incentive.

The Government regulates literally everything related to automobiles and traffic control. If anyone thinks the DOT is not going to set regulations for autonomous driving and leave it up to the private sector with an unregulated solution, then that person is not paying attention. This is not a political comment, but rather just observations and facts.

 

[KevinRS]

In theory, if all cars were automated, all would be following the speed limits and other laws, the near zero reaction time and predictability of other cars following the rules, and some level of inter-car communication, like car at the front of a line of cars immediately sends a signal that it's stopping for an obstruction so the whole line can begin breaking, automobile accident deaths would drop dramatically. I don't think we are anywhere close to that though, because yes things would have to be standardized, and universal.

 

[E90400K]

In theory, if all cars were automated, all would be following the speed limits and other laws, the near zero reaction time and predictability of other cars following the rules, and some level of inter-car communication, like car at the front of a line of cars immediately sends a signal that it's stopping for an obstruction so the whole line can begin breaking, automobile accident deaths would drop dramatically. I don't think we are anywhere close to that though, because yes things would have to be standardized, and universal.

As soon as the coms fail in the chain, it would be chaos. There are too many variables to account for. Look what happens when Newark airport loses its comms for just 90 seconds, it throws the entire system off.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

As soon as the coms fail in the chain, it would be chaos. There are too many variables to account for. Look what happens when Newark airport loses its comms for just 90 seconds, it throws the entire system off.

This is too true. When it is working, it would be slick. When not….steering wheel and foot peddling return.

 

[AZFox]

Full automation will, or at least should, never be allowed to happen because Americans who want to retain their personal freedom and agency will want to retain their transportation independence accordingly.

Reliance on the machines is one aspect. Mandatory reliance upon the people who own and control the machines (and therefore the people who ride in them) is another.

 

[E90400K]

Full automation will, or at least should, never be allowed to happen because Americans who want to retain their personal freedom and agency will want to retain their transportation independence accordingly.

Reliance on the machines is one aspect. Mandatory reliance upon the people who own and control the machines (and therefore the people who ride in them) is another.

And let's not get into a discussion about hacking...

 

[slateya]

Full automation will, or at least should, never be allowed to happen because Americans who want to retain their personal freedom and agency will want to retain their transportation independence accordingly.

Reliance on the machines is one aspect. Mandatory reliance upon the people who own and control the machines (and therefore the people who ride in them) is another.

So circling back to generations buying a Slate, Alphas in the future because the Slate will be around for a good long while with autonomous driving not taking over all.

I participated in the tangent so no shade thrown.

 

[Luxrage]

The cavalier with the 4 speed instead of the 3, or better yet the manual, is actually a pretty decent car. Even with poor service they won't die. Ran ours without a working radiator fan for 6 months with no problems. Just had to keep it moving, but we don't have traffic.
Sadly their not particularly safe cars with all the huge SUVs running around.

I know for sure his was an automatic, but I never had the pleasure of driving it so I can't specify if it was 3 or 4 speed. He was on the golf team and I do know that trunk could swallow a golf bag. I'd still rate it above a friend of mine's Neon as at least the HVAC controls all didn't break during his ownership.

 

[KevinRS]

As soon as the coms fail in the chain, it would be chaos. There are too many variables to account for. Look what happens when Newark airport loses its comms for just 90 seconds, it throws the entire system off.

It would be mostly like what tesla and others are working on, but not skip the lidar sensors like tesla, more processing, the comms would be more of a peer to peer system and not having cell tower intermediaries, no comms would mean they fall back to a default system, tesla's setup but better. comms, working would allow shorter following distance and higher speeds, because cars wouldn't have to depend on just their own sensors.
This would all be a while off though, probably 20 years just to cycle through all the manual cars even if the tech was all built and tested and ready for release today.
So probably 30 or more years out unless at some point the government was to go all in and pour lots of money into it, which is unlikely.