"Driverless Cars Could Mean the End of Domestic Flights"

There is another problem...it is only a time saver in congested areas if all of the cars are driverless and working together. Otherwise you have a mix of older cars and driverless cars which will not stop traffic jams and accidents. If people find out that the computer will slow and automatically let another car in...you can be assured that people will cut off the driverless car bringing them to a virtual standstill.
 
Shopshirt said:
There is another problem...it is only a time saver in congested areas if all of the cars are driverless and working together. Otherwise you have a mix of older cars and driverless cars which will not stop traffic jams and accidents. If people find out that the computer will slow and automatically let another car in...you can be assured that people will cut off the driverless car bringing them to a virtual standstill.
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I'd probably do that on purpose.
 
Silvaire said:
If and when they become a reality I suppose the next time I have to drive through Munich I won't be lost and going around in circles for an hour and a half. They should be a great asset in the tourist rental car regime. RHD? No problem, I'll just sit on the left side like I usually do.:rolleyes:
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Used to have a taxicab license for the city of munich. Now, 20 years later, I can barely find the way from my house to the airport.
 
So, you're in your self-driving car and tell it to pull into a rest area so you can drain your radiator. While you're gone, the computer decides it's time for an oil change and heads to the nearest town, 10 miles off, to get that done. Will it come back for you in a reasonable time or will it say "Sorry, Dave, I can't do that"? :eek:
 
Shopshirt said:
There is another problem...it is only a time saver in congested areas if all of the cars are driverless and working together. Otherwise you have a mix of older cars and driverless cars which will not stop traffic jams and accidents. If people find out that the computer will slow and automatically let another car in...you can be assured that people will cut off the driverless car bringing them to a virtual standstill.
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It seems functionally impossible to combine autonomous/'logical rules following' vehicles on the same roads with human-driven/'non-rules following' vehicles. (By 'rules-following' I mean absolutely predictable and following known and defined rules, not just "full stop at the stop sign.")
 
Norman said:
So, you're in your self-driving car and tell it to pull into a rest area so you can drain your radiator. While you're gone, the computer decides it's time for an oil change and heads to the nearest town, 10 miles off, to get that done. Will it come back for you in a reasonable time or will it say "Sorry, Dave, I can't do that"? :eek:
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It'll be electric, no oil to change.

mohamedpac said:
The way technology is going, all cars will have wifi and all channels will have streaming in 20 years
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And those channels and the streaming will require you to sell off your first-born to pay for them if the wireless carriers have their way. But I guess that means one less kid in the car!
 
LDJones said:
"There will be a steering wheel in case you decide you want to drive..."

And therein lies the fly in the ointment. As long as you give Bubba the option of driving it the concept is doomed.

"Cletus, hold my beer and watch THIS!"
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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: that is so true
 
Sac Arrow said:
We've had driverless cars for decades. It's called Greyhound. If you don't want to or can't drive, and can't afford to go by air, that's how you travel in the CONUS.
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:rofl::rofl::rofl: Travel by Greyhound never fails to have its moments.:lol:
 
Shopshirt said:
There is another problem...it is only a time saver in congested areas if all of the cars are driverless and working together. Otherwise you have a mix of older cars and driverless cars which will not stop traffic jams and accidents. If people find out that the computer will slow and automatically let another car in...you can be assured that people will cut off the driverless car bringing them to a virtual standstill.
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It's not about sparing the traffic jams, it's about not having to pay attention to them while you're in them. Now traffic time becomes productive time, or sleeping time.
 
I think driverless cars will be a boon for carjackers.
 
Fredbob711 said:
Of course in my opinion the best way to deal with congestion is to convince companies to stop forcing all their employees to come into an office every day just so you can monitor how they spend their time.
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We have had the tech to do this for a long time now. Businesses who can, but don't utilize it, are usually some of the dullest, most mediocre businesses and lackluster leaders you've ever seen.
 
Once the autonomous car is born it's only a matter of time before we start seeing cars driving around with nobody in them. Shortly after that there will be unoccupied cars driving around not because someone told them to but for reasons we don't :dunno:

Kinda spooky if you ask me
 
Silvaire said:
Once the autonomous car is born it's only a matter of time before we start seeing cars driving around with nobody in them. Shortly after that there will be unoccupied cars driving around not because someone told them to but for reasons we don't :dunno:

Kinda spooky if you ask me
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Taxi Driver will no longer be a job either. You'll be able to send your car down to the robotic McDonalds to get your lunch.
 
denverpilot said:
We have had the tech to do this for a long time now. Businesses who can, but don't utilize it, are usually some of the dullest, most mediocre businesses and lackluster leaders you've ever seen.
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Having worked at multiple of these (including currently) I agree.
 
Henning said:
Taxi Driver will no longer be a job either. You'll be able to send your car down to the robotic McDonalds to get your lunch.
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Yeah, and in just a few years we're all going to have flying cars, just like was predicted back in 1940's. :rolleyes:
 
VictorValencia said:
Creating a plane that can fly itself is not that difficult. The difficulty is in designing
one which is proven to be safe under all conditions.
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This is something I think a lot of people don't know. It isn't enough to get it right. In this case you must never get it wrong. There's a huge chasm between the two.

And I think Audi is wishing. No matter how easy a driverless car might be, it won't be the speed of an airplane.
 
Henning said:
I think in Europe where the distances are small and you can up down the continent in a day and cross it in two it will have much more impact than in America.
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Did you just use Europe and innovation in the same thought? It will take them decades to change their Constitutions to allow for a driverless car.

When the Segway was introduced in the Netherlands, it was required to have a kickstand even though a kickstand has no function on the device. Why is because under the Constitution it was classified as a bicycle and the Dutch Constitution required that all bicycles have a kickstand. It was 10 years before the Segway was even allowed to be operated in the country.

If it took 10 years to resolve a kickstand, how long do you think it will take if you remove the driver?
 
Silvaire said:
Once the autonomous car is born it's only a matter of time before we start seeing cars driving around with nobody in them. Shortly after that there will be unoccupied cars driving around not because someone told them to but for reasons we don't :dunno:



Kinda spooky if you ask me
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Send the car to pick up stuff at a store? Sure. Why would I go? They'll load it for me at the far end.

But you're missing the really fun one. I've already said it would be awesome to have oneself cremated and have an estate executor tell the car to go to all the places I never saw while alive. Hahahaha. Have adequate money available to them to have the car towed and repaired as needed.

Dead people cruising around in cars. Brave new world. Could program them to do cool driving patterns in groups during non rush hour.

Apparently the new Subaru system already available on 2015 cars will drive in stop and go traffic all the way down to walking speeds if you set the cruise and steer it. If you have to stop it'll tell you "vehicle ahead is moving" and you tap the throttle and it'll resume speed control at whatever speed it can until the traffic clears and it can get back to the set speed.

Haven't asked my buddy that owns one how the little cameras do when snow is covering them out the windshield from up near the rear view mirror yet.
 
bflynn said:
Did you just use Europe and innovation in the same thought? It will take them decades to change their Constitutions to allow for a driverless car.

When the Segway was introduced in the Netherlands, it was required to have a kickstand even though a kickstand has no function on the device. Why is because under the Constitution it was classified as a bicycle and the Dutch Constitution required that all bicycles have a kickstand. It was 10 years before the Segway was even allowed to be operated in the country.

If it took 10 years to resolve a kickstand, how long do you think it will take if you remove the driver?
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What I want to know is how long will it be before I can buy a driverless bicycle? :D
 
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LDJones said:
Yeah, and in just a few years we're all going to have flying cars, just like was predicted back in 1940's. :rolleyes:
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We still don't have the energy density technology to make that work (mostly because we dedicated our nuclear energy technology development with the goal of creating plutonium for bombs rather than constructive dense energy.) but we do have all the technology for autonomous cars. If we ever get around to feeding everyone on the planet, then we get a bonus and flying cars. Until then we can't be trusted with more energy density than we have already, and frankly, we don't deserve flying cars, we are horrible humans.
 
bflynn said:
Did you just use Europe and innovation in the same thought? It will take them decades to change their Constitutions to allow for a driverless car.

When the Segway was introduced in the Netherlands, it was required to have a kickstand even though a kickstand has no function on the device. Why is because under the Constitution it was classified as a bicycle and the Dutch Constitution required that all bicycles have a kickstand. It was 10 years before the Segway was even allowed to be operated in the country.

If it took 10 years to resolve a kickstand, how long do you think it will take if you remove the driver?
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OMG! How big is their Constitution if it has the level of detail??! :yikes:
 
Henning said:
We still don't have the energy density technology to make that work (mostly because we dedicated our nuclear energy technology development with the goal of creating plutonium for bombs rather than constructive dense energy.) but we do have all the technology for autonomous cars. If we ever get around to feeding everyone on the planet, then we get a bonus and flying cars. Until then we can't be trusted with more energy density than we have already, and frankly, we don't deserve flying cars, we are horrible humans.
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Speak for yourself!
 
LDJones said:
Speak for yourself!
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No, I speak for the human race and include myself., because if one looks honestly, it is the truth. That is the problem with building an economy and society on debt, "others" have to cover that debt today, that's why the founders forbade fiat currency. Those others provide the stuff we fill out landfills with while living in squalor and starvation on the promise that they can have what we have. But we fail to fulfill that promise, just growing the debt with more promises, getting fat while 2/3rds of the world's population is hungry with insufficient access to food and water and we don't care. We are horrible humans, and it will end, either we end it on terms favorable to us, or the Chinese end it when they send us to reeducation camps.
 
mohamedpac said:
Here's a very interesting article regarding the possible future of the aviation and hotel industry: http://www.dezeen.com/2015/11/25/se...erview-audi-senior-strategist-sven-schuwirth/

The Audi strategist believes that driverless cars could spell the end of domestic flights.

Thoughts on whether/how much this will affect airlines and GA in particular?
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Don't buy the argument. CEO's of automobile companies are making some bombastic statements. Recently the CEO of Volvo stated that they were planing a car that would have no fatalities, in traffic accidents, by 2020.

Cheers
 
ralarcon said:
Don't buy the argument. CEO's of automobile companies are making some bombastic statements. Recently the CEO of Volvo stated that they were planing a car that would have no fatalities, in traffic accidents, by 2020.

Cheers
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I would love to see the list of caveats on that claim.
 
Henning said:
Taxi Driver will no longer be a job either. You'll be able to send your car down to the robotic McDonalds to get your lunch.
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Yea but I'm talking about fully autonomous. You try to send your car to McDonalds only to find it's gone because it decided to go somewhere on it's own :eek:
 
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