Google: Our Robot Cars Are Better Drivers Than You 722
An anonymous reader writes "At a robotics conference in Santa Clara, California, the head of Google's autonomous car project presented results of a study showing that the company's autonomous cars are already safer than human drivers — including trained professionals. 'We're spending less time in near-collision states,' he said. 'In addition to painting a rosy picture of his vehicles' autonomous capabilities, Urmson showed a new dashboard display that his group has developed to help people understand what an autonomous car is doing and when they might want to take over.' This follows another (non-Google) study earlier this week that found the adoption of autonomous cars could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars each year. Urmson also pointed out that determining liability for an accident is much easier using the data collected by the autonomous cars. At one point, a test car was read-ended, and the data showed it smoothly braking to a stop before being struck. 'We don't have to rely on eyewitnesses that can't be trusted as to what happened — we actually have the data. The guy around us wasn't paying enough attention. The data will set you free.'"
Show time (Score:5, Interesting)
Perfect Synergy (Score:5, Interesting)
Thanks to our dear friends at the NSA, law enforcement will soon have the ability to override the destination selection of autonomous cars and have any driver/passenger they wish promptly delivered to a convenient jail or donut shop.
I love technology!
Data will get you jailed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Yup, and it doesn't matter. (Score:5, Interesting)
Overwhelmingly, they choose to be driven. They choose to fly private jets. If you could afford it, you would do the same thing most of the time, because most of the time getting there is just a task, not a joy.
It will be the same with regular people. Imagine what society looks like when there are zero deaths due to drunk driving, distracted driving, and falling asleep at the wheel. Imagine how much lower car insurance premiums are when the risk of an at fault accident is nearly zero. People will still buy cars, because they will want one customized to them, but imagine all the things that can change when a human pilot no longer has to be accommodated: cars set up so that parents and children can face each other and play games together while traveling, lay-flat seats for overnight driving. You can leave Washington after work on Friday and eat lunch in New Orleans.
Re:Yup, and it doesn't matter. (Score:5, Interesting)
Except, if you've read any of the news for the last few years, it IS changing. Young people aren't entering into the automobile culture the way their parents did. They are favoring bicycles, walking, public transit, and other non-car ways to get around. It's something the big car mfgs are worried about a lot because their customer base is rapidly aging.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/5-reasons-young-people-are-not-buying-cars-or-getting-their-drivers-license/
And as a cyclist, I trust the self-driving cars *much* more than human piloted cars. I see drivers texting while driving every day, and I'm confident that a self-driving car will never be reading a break-up text from its boyfriend and plow into me while txting a reply.
Re:Show time (Score:5, Interesting)
Interesting points, btw! If the police caught you doing that here, you would have a hard time talking yourself out. You are simply supposed to leave it to the proper authorities.
Re:Taking over during emergency... (Score:5, Interesting)
Think of the case of a gravel truck that has a loose load.
The good driver would apply the brakes, gas and turn the wheel to make sure the gravel passes harmlessly over or under the car.
The better driver would remember that there was still traffic to the sides and behind him and, rather than hoping they all have better reflexes than he does in dealing with his own sudden braking/accelerating/steering, lets the rock chip the windshield, which is later replaced on-site within 30 minutes, with costs covered entirely by his insurer.
The best driver notes the standardized "STAY BACK" sign on the back of the dump truck and actually stays back.
Guess which one the autonomous system does!
Re:Show time (Score:5, Interesting)
911: 911 what is your emergency?
10 year old: I think my dad is having a heart attack.
911: How old are you?
10 year old: 10
911: Ok, thanks, we have your address at 123 Flower St. Is that correct?
10 year old: Yea
911: Is your dad's car at home?
10 year old: No it is out with my mom
911: Ok we can route a taxi to your home, it will get there faster then an ambulance, do you think you can help him to the taxi?
10 year old: I think so..
911: It will be there in 40...30 seconds. Don't hang up your cell, in case you need assistance.
Taxi arrives exactly as predicted by the operator, child is able to help their father get in, the taxi detects that both are safely in the car and speeds off to the hospital automatically, not asking for fare. The 911 operator walks child through basic emergency procedures though the taxi communication system. All other cars yield properly as the taxi is sending out an authorized emergency signal and has lights flashing and horn blaring at a recognized interval. They arrive at the hospital in a minimum amount of time with less risk then waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
I'm sure that isn't exactly how it would go down, but I can certainly see the advantages of autonomous cars, taxis, even ambulances at every step of this.
Re:Show time (Score:5, Interesting)
It would be completely trivial to let a human override the limits. The car could easily be made to automatically alert authorities and even the other autonomous cars that an emergency override was in effect. That should make the journey considerably safer than when a distressed human driver is trying to deal with an emergency amongst a lot of other traffic who just think he is being an idiot.
Abuse is equally trivial to deal with. Every time you activate the override, you get a nice little chat with either the police or a judge.
In Denmark the law is quite easy: If you are doing emergency driving, you must attach a white piece of cloth to the car if possible (sticking white linen in the bonnet is the typical solution). Other traffic must obey the exact same rules when dealing with a marked car as they would if it was a regular emergency vehicle with the lights flashing. The driver of the marked car is not subject to regular traffic laws (but must of course still try to avoid accidents, it is not a license to kill). Once the emergency is over, the driver must report the journey to the police as soon as reasonably possible.
Re:Show time (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't get why people think they wouldn't do that
In fact, in a world of self driving cars, I don't see why we would need a speed limit. The car can be trusted to drive within its own limits..
and his brother could have told the car that it was an emergency (destination: emergency unit of hospital) and the car could have decided to drive at its maximum speed, broadcasting to other vehicles that it was doing so.
A journey such as this might attract some official attention, but assuming that the hospital corroborates the story of an emergency, then I don't see why there would be any charges..
Re:At what speed? (Score:5, Interesting)
revenue from traffic tickets would disappear. Now, many police departments rely on those revenues. So, will they shrink, or find some other source of revenue?
Conversely, city costs would shrink. There is a good deal of tax and ticket revenue money that goes toward special police traffic units, driver instruction, court costs, emergency services for accidents, highway signage, etc. that would decrease dramatically.
It's possible that auto-drive cars could actually save the city costs.