Driverless shuttle crashes on first day
Only hours after initiating service, a driverless shuttle in Las Vegas crashed.
No one was hurt, nor is the accident described in any detail at the link. However, I think this incident highlights a reality about driverless cars: Either every vehicle on the road must be one, or none of the vehicles on the road can be one. It will be almost impossible to program a driverless car to handle the unpredictability of human drivers. If we want to leave the driving to computers (which I don’t), we will have to ban humans from driving.
Such a ban will be a terrible loss of freedom. And not surprisingly, I think the whole a push for driverless vehicles is a push in that direction.
I found a second article that describes the incident as caused by a truck driver backing into the shuttle, thus blaming the human driver (who was given a ticket by the way) and using the incident to argue against human drivers.
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Only hours after initiating service, a driverless shuttle in Las Vegas crashed.
No one was hurt, nor is the accident described in any detail at the link. However, I think this incident highlights a reality about driverless cars: Either every vehicle on the road must be one, or none of the vehicles on the road can be one. It will be almost impossible to program a driverless car to handle the unpredictability of human drivers. If we want to leave the driving to computers (which I don’t), we will have to ban humans from driving.
Such a ban will be a terrible loss of freedom. And not surprisingly, I think the whole a push for driverless vehicles is a push in that direction.
I found a second article that describes the incident as caused by a truck driver backing into the shuttle, thus blaming the human driver (who was given a ticket by the way) and using the incident to argue against human drivers.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I believe your conclusion that it’s all or nothing is unjustified, but agree that others will have the same conclusion. We as a society have already decided that other peoples freedom is forfeit. Too bad for us.
Finding these kinds of flaws in the system is probably why Google has been testing — in traffic — their autonomous autos for so many years.
Since cars, shuttles, and buses carry people, defensive driving is going to be paramount. The use of the horn was appropriate in that case, since the purpose of the horn is to warn other drivers of potentially hazardous situations.
Those people could have been watching a truck barrel out of control at them, knowing that they were going to die if the shuttle didn’t “step out of the way.”
I think that Google is showing that autonomous and human-driven vehicles can coexist safely. Las Vegas may have merely put into use a system that was not yet ready for prime time.
We all need something like this instead:
http://images.realclear.com/349842_5_.jpg
Laurie,
I like the way you think.
However, I am concerned about the stability of riding a two-legged animal. Maybe four legs would be better. Elephants seem nice and stable, but they are large and probably require a lot of food. Horses are smaller and probably eat less than elephants, yet probably retain similar stability. They may even be easier to mount, probably self-avoid accidents with trucks, and may even be able to find their way back home if the rider is too drunk to steer.
If we switch from cars to animals for transportation, what could go wrong? Why did we never think of it before? I’m buying stock in a buggy-whip company.
http://www.nyhistory.org/community/horse-manure
Edward,
All good points ;) I was thinking about speed with maneuverability. I expect they shoo away the parking enforcement officers, too.
Laurie,
You wrote: “I expect they shoo away the parking enforcement officers, too.”
I forgot about that. According to the movie “Sideways,” those things are mean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBS75pQhzXE#t=50
The first A.I. auto death:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/19/uber-self-driving-car-fatality-halts-testing-in-all-cities-report-says.html
It can only get better?