NHTSA onboard with Google cars not having human drivers onboard?

Looks like so!

http://isearch.nhtsa.gov/files/Google%20--%20compiled%20response%20to%2012%20Nov%20%2015%20interp%20request%20--%204%20Feb%2016%20final.htm

This is big game changer.

Yep it's big news, but expected.

http://www.wired.com/2016/02/feds-say-theyll-count-computers-as-human-drivers/

I could also see remote operators being allowed, similar to military drones and such.

I love the problem of NHTSA rules 'pertaining to human anatomy', like 'they brakes must operate by a foot pedal'.

Can't google just name the braking algorithms 'feet'?

public class FootSqueezeEmergency { ...

We're here: Johnny Cabs.

Yeah, kinda scaring me how much "anti-driving" sentiment is being stirred up out there. Some quotes from Ted Talks on the subject:

"For the last 130 years, we've been working around that least reliable part of the car, the driver. We've made the car stronger. We've added seat belts, we've added air bags, and in the last decade, we've actually started trying to make the car smarter to fix that bug, the driver."

"...we had a Porsche driver who came in and told us on the first day, "This is completely stupid. What are we thinking?" But at the end of it, he said, "Not only should I have it, everyone else should have it, because people are terrible drivers." So this was music to our ears..."

"So we thought about this and we said, it's kind of obvious, right? The better the technology gets, the less reliable the driver is going to get."

(Chris Urmson: "How a driverless car sees the road," March 2015)

" Do you know that driving accidents are the number one cause of death for young people? And do you realize that almost all of those are due to human error and not machine error, and can therefore be prevented by machines?"

"... I'm really looking forward to a time when generations after us look back at us and say how ridiculous it was that humans were driving cars."

(Sebastian Thrun: "Google's driverless car," March 2011)

I just look forward to the day where I won't have to eat or drink for myself. I mean, I could choke, or the liquid could go down the wrong hole. Just imagine how many people could be saved if we all had automated eating and drinking. They do it for people in a coma.....why not me?

Going to the bathroom is really inconvenient too. I welcome the day when I don't have to get up from playing my video games, and I can just let my body do it's thing. I mean they could inject a microchip into me so my body would just take care of things into a colostomy bag or something. Elvis died on the toilet....I don't want to be next!

And that whole going outside of the house thing is dangerous too. I welcome the day where I don't have to leave my house, or my chair, and I can sit and watch a screen all day--- and live my life through it. So much safer, so much more convenient...........

Good old Google helping us get there...

Somebody hack it and put it all back on the drawing board

I drove the Miata to work today for the first time in a while. I'm much more tuned into driving when in the Miata and I'm pretty sure I'm a way better driver in it than I am in the Cherokee.

The more cars isolates me from the experience of motion and danger, the more asleep-at-the-wheel I become. I suspect this is true for everyone else on the road.

Cars get more isolated, drivers get more tuned out.. leading us to: The Car Of The Future!

This stuff frightens me. Knowing that there is this much work being out into eliminating human drivers has me worried for the future of our hobby.

You can still plow a field with a horse, or put up drywall with hammer and nails, or do your tax calculations long-hand with a pencil and paper. Heck, you can still move from New York to San Fran by grabbing all your stuff and setting out on a long walk.

Point is you don't have to anymore, and that is a huge improvement for many people.

Top list of things people complain about on GRM:

1. Cars without clutch pedals
2. Bad drivers on public roads (no clutch ability, heads in phones, tech makes us less sensitive, etc)
3. People and companies trying to eliminate bad drivers from public roads

I guess motorcyclists will be history. It's a shame. Too many people view motorcycles as toys, they are actually excellent commuter vehicles. Mine certainly is not a toy. To me, a car, even a two seater is too much, too big, too heavy. I'm just one person, I don't need all that extra room, it's just a waste of space.

I don't like this.

Oh, the irony.

Complain about bad drivers and then complain of the current solution to keep them from behind the wheel.

SEADave wrote: Yeah, kinda scaring me how much "anti-driving" sentiment is being stirred up out there. Some quotes from Ted Talks on the subject: "For the last 130 years, we've been working around that least reliable part of the car, the driver. We've made the car stronger. We've added seat belts, we've added air bags, and in the last decade, we've actually started trying to make the car smarter to fix that bug, the driver." "...we had a Porsche driver who came in and told us on the first day, "This is completely stupid. What are we thinking?" But at the end of it, he said, "Not only should I have it, everyone else should have it, because people are terrible drivers." So this was music to our ears..." "So we thought about this and we said, it's kind of obvious, right? The better the technology gets, the less reliable the driver is going to get." (Chris Urmson: "How a driverless car sees the road," March 2015) " Do you know that driving accidents are the number one cause of death for young people? And do you realize that almost all of those are due to human error and not machine error, and can therefore be prevented by machines?" "... I'm really looking forward to a time when generations after us look back at us and say how ridiculous it was that humans were driving cars." (Sebastian Thrun: "Google's driverless car," March 2011)

All of these sound a LOT like the AI's rationale to take over humanity in the will smith adaptation of "I Robot."

Honestly, I'd trust the computers more than I trust a lot of drivers, especially when I'm commuting by bike. The pedal kind. It will become a problem if they ever try to actually prevent human driving instead of just incentivizing automatic controls.

Come to think of it, there's a scene in I Robot where Smith's character takes over driving his car at a high rate of speed instead of lettign the computer drive, and his passenger freaks out about it because it's so unsafe. Seems like foreshadowing.

This thing runs on GASOLINE?!? You know that it's FLAMABLE right?

Oh iRobot, you so funny.

How about we spend a big chunk of money on proper drivers education and stricter licensing requirements instead?

jimbob_racing wrote: How about we spend a big chunk of money on proper drivers education and stricter licensing requirements instead?

I vote for requiring a full weekend performance driving course before getting a license and a repeat every 10 years. And if you live in a state that gets snow, you must have completed at least one course in the snow before you're allowed to drive in it. And states that get snow need to mandate snow tires. $500 fine the first time you're caught without them, $500 and 2 points on license the second time (in a 5 year period), $1000 and 4 points on license the 3rd time (or if you get in an accident with snow on the ground without snow tires on and that can be found as a contributing factor). 4th time you're caught without snow tires in that 5 year period, $1000 fine and license suspended on the spot.

Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: I guess motorcyclists will be history. It's a shame. Too many people view motorcycles as toys, they are actually excellent commuter vehicles. Mine certainly is not a toy. To me, a car, even a two seater is too much, too big, too heavy. I'm just one person, I don't need all that extra room, it's just a waste of space. I don't like this.

I'll be much more likely to drive a motorcycle or ride a bike when there is a minority self driving cars. I long for the day when I can take my bike out on a 30 mile loop without constantly being afraid of being hit from behind by someone texting or driving drunk or just not paying attention.

In reply to mazdeuce:

I guess I was looking at it from a completely eliminating human drive standpoint.

jimbob_racing wrote: How about we spend a big chunk of money on proper drivers education and stricter licensing requirements instead?

professional drivers still make mistakes.

You and I can both think of people that have died because someone wasn't paying attention, or fell asleep at the wheel. This would not happen with a computer.

Joe Gearin wrote: I just look forward to the day where I won't have to eat or drink for myself.

Eeeeeeeee36 M3. That's been around for a long time.

http://youtu.be/tonpv9DZ2LE

SkinnyG wrote: We're here: Johnny Cabs.

Please state the nature of your destination.