As always, relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1958/

spprashant 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

We do have people with real incentive to not allow self-driving cars to succeed.

sterlind 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I hope they succeed, for the sake of my mom who's legally blind and has dreamed about them for decades. but I'd be significantly more excited about self-driving if you could buy level-4 AVs that you can actually own.

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paulryanrogers an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Are cars really the best option? Could other public transit serve the same purpose?

(I was once legally blind, still not a fan of cars myself. Though I understand the appeal when externalities are out of the picture.)

	▲	michaelt 24 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Cars aren't the best option, but you can drop self-driving cars into an existing car-centric society one car at a time, with the car buyers paying for themselves. Making a car-centric society meaningfully less car-centric requires the enthusiastic support of that society, along with competent political leadership, and probably a fair chunk of taxpayer cash too. Suburbs with huge lots make for long walks to the transit stop - but densifying those suburbs is not easy. I don't own a car; I travel everywhere by bicycle and public transport - but the public transport I use was all built in the 1850s. Some time between then and now my society reorganised into a form that has a lot of difficulty delivering public transport projects.
	▲	drdaeman 19 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Surely, not until public transit networks covering literally everywhere regular roads can get you. Public transit is better, but building it outside of dense metro areas to the extent it becomes competitive is probably even more difficult than building a self-driving car.

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cogogo an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Me too but this feels like a step in a progression to being able to rent/share them.

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runarberg an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Can I ask why you prefer that some future technology will solve her problem when actual solutions (such as access vans; public transit; etc.) already exist?

And before anyone points this out, if your local government does not offer these solutions that is a political choice of your local politicians. Plenty of local governments all over the world (even in dictatorships) are able to provide these, and changing the policy of your local government should in theory be easier then to roll out technology that does not exist.

	▲	ctoth 4 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Hi. I'm blind. I wish to hop in a robocar and drive from Denver to go visit my folks back home in Florida. Is the Denver Access-A-Ride going to take me? Which public transit is available?

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saghm 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

At the cost of a traffic violation though?

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dzonga an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

that xkcd is always funny - but there's a white lie in it e.g on motorcycles in areas where you are allowed to ride median. there's instances of drivers actively tryin' to kill you by swerving onto the median when they see you comin'.

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SyzygyRhythm an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Numerous times now, using Tesla FSD, I've found the car seemingly drifting from the center of the lane, only to have motorcycles buzz by at high speed on the opposite side. It's very polite toward motorcyclists.

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nsvd2 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

It surprises me that any municipality would make that legal, seems dangerous.

	▲	HNisCIS an hour ago \| parent [-]
		It's actually safer-ish. First: terms. Filtering is good, involves moving slowly through stopped traffic between the cars, usually under 20mph differential. Splitting is less good, that involves weaving between cars at speed and is actually dangerous. Some of the worst accidents are rear endings where drivers (not paying attention) just run you over while stopped in traffic. This is offset by accidents where people do the stuff you're worried about but when it's practiced correctly that's not as big of a risk and generally leads to less catastrophic accidents than rear endings. It's also just kinda dumb to force a class of vehicle that can get out of traffic jams to instead sit in them