Nearly half of Americans don't want a self-driving car

Kinda like I wouldn’t want a self flying plane either. Just talking about it with a coworker (millennial) yesterday. He was commenting about how cool the UH-60M is because you can load a route in the FMS and it flys itself. I suppose it’s cool from a safety or capabilities standpoint but tarnishes the fun and what little feeling of accomplishment is left by hands on flying. When aviation has gotten to that point, you’ve become a glorified drone operator. At best, a systems manager with knowledge of aerodynamics.
 
"Nearly half don't want" means more than half do want or are open to the idea. I'll bet at least some of that minority will come around.
 
Can’t stop progress. There is a lot of money being thrown at autonomous vehicles these days. I like driving my own car, but I can see the upside of self driving cars. In any case, this genie is out of the bottle, already. It isn’t going to stop because half the people surveyed don’t want them.
 
If I no longer had the physical capability to drive, then I could see it as a quality of life issue. I would indeed think about getting one in that case. Then again, if my faculties had deteriorated to the point where I can’t drive myself, then perhaps I shouldn’t be on the road in a self driving vehicle either.
 
The problem is it’s all or nothing. It doesn’t work unless all the cars are talking to each other.
 
Would be a god send for commuting or long distance. I like driving a lot more than the average person probably and have participated in motorsports but having to pay attention, not get sleepy while doing a long drive between where I live and the parents’ place or something is annoying. I’d much rather use that time to do some work or just relax.
 
I wouldn't mind some sort of autopilot for highway but in town or on back roads no thanks.
 
I would love to have a perch overlooking the mousetrap in Denver, or along I-25 or I-70 during a blizzard and watching all the "self driving" cars take part in the demolition derby. Autonomous cars are just a toy and always will be. :yesnod:
 
Velocity173 said:
Just talking about it with a coworker (millennial) yesterday. He was commenting about how cool the UH-60M is because you can load a route in the FMS and it flys itself.
Click to expand...
Heh, I bet that was the guy that I queued up one night awhile back thinking it may be you... that new hire you were telling me about.

:)
 
asicer said:
"Nearly half don't want" means more than half do want or are open to the idea. I'll bet at least some of that minority will come around.
Click to expand...

I think you need to read the article, the important tidbit is the fact that this number went from 30% to 49% in 2 years. And the number of people who think self-driving cars would be safer has dropped from 45% to 30%

The title -- which i took from the article -- doesn't really tell the story.
 
Velocity173 said:
Kinda like I wouldn’t want a self flying plane either. Just talking about it with a coworker (millennial) yesterday. He was commenting about how cool the UH-60M is because you can load a route in the FMS and it flys itself. I suppose it’s cool from a safety or capabilities standpoint but tarnishes the fun and what little feeling of accomplishment is left by hands on flying. When aviation has gotten to that point, you’ve become a glorified drone operator. At best, a systems manager with knowledge of aerodynamics.
Click to expand...
OK, but I'm sure that more than "nearly half" of people don't drive cars for fun, they drive them to get somewhere. There may be more people who find it fun on a pilot's forum where there are those who enjoy manipulating a vehicle, but out in the big world, no.

I think the main issue people have with self-driving cars is that they don't trust them; at least not at this point.
 
Salty said:
The problem is it’s all or nothing. It doesn’t work unless all the cars are talking to each other.
Click to expand...

Myth, if all cars talked to each other it would be a lot easier. Current level 5 assumes a mix of self driving and human driven.
What makes level 5 so hard, is the interaction with humans.

Tim
 
Everskyward said:
I think the main issue people have with self-driving cars is that they don't trust them; at least not at this point.
Click to expand...

By the time developers have worked out the issues to become level 5, I think most of the baby bombers who have lost faith will no longer be driving. So they have a choice, stay home, take the bus, or use a self driving car.

Tim
 
tspear said:
By the time developers have worked out the issues to become level 5, I think most of the baby bombers who have lost faith will no longer be driving. So they have a choice, stay home, take the bus, or use a self driving car.
Click to expand...
I already take the bus most of the time when I'm going somewhere in the city. It has nothing to do with the driving, just the parking.
 
If they (either the government or the car makers) decide it's good for you, you will have no choice.

Things that will drive the decision are 1) whether they're "safer" or not, 2) whether the locals can control speed to exactly the speed limit or less, noise is less, or whether they can be excluded from certain roads based on criteria (such as "do you live there"), 3) whether they save fuel, 4) whether they reduce potential liability to the makers, and etc.

It would not surprise me if you are not given a choice in the matter.
 
Everskyward said:
OK, but I'm sure that more than "nearly half" of people don't drive cars for fun, they drive them to get somewhere. There may be more people who find it fun on a pilot's forum where there are those who enjoy manipulating a vehicle, but out in the big world, no.

I think the main issue people have with self-driving cars is that they don't trust them; at least not at this point.
Click to expand...

Driving is nothing but an incidental waste of my life probably 90% of the time I spend in my car. I would LOVE being able to send my car to the store to pick stuff up, especially if I'm on a job somewhere.

Insurance is way too expensive, especially if you have young kids.

I'm pretty sure drug companies selling blood pressure meds loves road rage, traffic nightmares, etc.

The romance of driving is following airline travelling's lead.
 
Last edited:
I would love a car that I could get into the drivers seat, plug in my drive plan, hit the go button, then crawl into the back seat and either sleep or drink.....
 
Just having a discussion with some of the top tech folks in my company about self-driving cars. The opinion is it'll only work when we ban human driven cars (it certainly makes the problem easier from a software perspective if they are all 1) predictable, 2) communicating). There are cities in the UK bidding to be the first to ban human driven cars.
 
Ryanb said:
Heh, I bet that was the guy that I queued up one night awhile back thinking it may be you... that new hire you were telling me about.

:)
Click to expand...

BFA2256A-C020-4B72-A629-CBAA76717217.jpeg
Yep. I’m the top Batman and he’s the bottom one. :D
 
wsuffa said:
If they (either the government or the car makers) decide it's good for you, you will have no choice.

Things that will drive the decision are 1) whether they're "safer" or not, 2) whether the locals can control speed to exactly the speed limit or less, noise is less, or whether they can be excluded from certain roads based on criteria (such as "do you live there"), 3) whether they save fuel, 4) whether they reduce potential liability to the makers, and etc.

It would not surprise me if you are not given a choice in the matter.
Click to expand...

I think about everyone is already behind it, including the government, automakers, insurance companies, tech companies etc.
 
tspear said:
Myth, if all cars talked to each other it would be a lot easier. Current level 5 assumes a mix of self driving and human driven.
What makes level 5 so hard, is the interaction with humans.

Tim
Click to expand...
More autonomous cars = more deaths until acceptance drops to 0. The only way to make it safe is for all cars to be autonomous. It is a self-fulfilling situation. No myth.
 
I Robot. You passenger.
The future is here.
 
bnt83 said:
I think about everyone is already behind it, including the government, automakers, insurance companies, tech companies etc.
Click to expand...

Which I find rather ironic since I think when this finally happens, many of the automakers will go quietly into the night. Car will become a true appliance. Many of the differentiators of brands will basically disappear. Also, probably not affordable by as many people due to built in liability issues. Like what happened to GA planes in the 80s.
 
genna said:
Which I find rather ironic since I think when this finally happens, many of the automakers will go quietly into the night. Car will become a true appliance. Many of the differentiators of brands will basically disappear. Also, probably not affordable by as many people due to built in liability issues. Like what happened to GA planes in the 80s.
Click to expand...
It doesn't make sense to own an autonomous car. You'd rent based on need. You'd pull up uber and click and button and the closest car in your chosen class will pull up to your front door.
 
Everskyward said:
OK, but I'm sure that more than "nearly half" of people don't drive cars for fun, they drive them to get somewhere. There may be more people who find it fun on a pilot's forum where there are those who enjoy manipulating a vehicle, but out in the big world, no.

I think the main issue people have with self-driving cars is that they don't trust them; at least not at this point.
Click to expand...

Well yeah, for those who simply look at a car as transportation from A to B, then there’s no reason to drive yourself. If one enjoys driving and has a car that’s exciting to drive, then self driving defeats the purpose. Would be like a self driving motorcycle.

Now for safety purposes it just makes sense. Because, even at this point, I do trust them more than most drivers. Just like I trust the precision of an AP more than most pilots.
 
I just want autonomous cruise control, the number of people who can't maintain a steady speed due to a tiny hill or curve is too damn high.

And, of course, there's still no small diesel pickups that have it, so I'm considering making my own rudimentary one instead of just passing everyone who can't just PICK A SPEED.
 
sferguson524 said:
You have no idea. I work for a car company that is doing just this. Without violating NDAs, we will have a fully internet connected vehicle....
Click to expand...
I foresee a real live "BattleBots" in our future. The mayhem caused would definitely be awesome to watch. The dark side kiddies are salivating as we speak.

Damn... I should write a movie script based on this. Kind of a modern day version of "Christine". :rofl:
 
If you drove in kalifornia with all the traffic problems and stupid drivers you would welcome autonomous cars.
I'm all for it, BUT there must also be a manual mode where you can turn off all the NANNY components.
 
wsuffa said:
If they (either the government or the car makers) decide it's good for you, you will have no choice.

It would not surprise me if you are not given a choice in the matter.
Click to expand...

And there’s the rub. Neither manufacturers nor federal/state/ local governments should be in the business of mandating self-driving/autonomous vehicle as the only approved vehicle allowed to operate on public roadways.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top