Four Self-Driving Cars Involved In Accidents

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Four Self-Driving Cars Involved In Accidents

engine

9:30 am on May 12, 2015 (gmt 0)

If you drive into the back of another vehicle, where i'm from, the perceived responsibility is from the car that hit the other in the rear.

Is there ever going to be a completely safe transport system!

Three of the four cars belonged to Google, the fourth to parts supplier Delphi.

Both firms denied their vehicles had been at fault. Under Californian law, details of car accidents remain confidential.

However, Google said its driverless cars had never been the cause of an accident, and that the majority of "minor fender-benders" had been in the form of rear-end collisions from other drivers.

"Safety is our highest priority. Since the start of our programme six years ago, we've driven nearly a million miles autonomously, on both freeways and city streets, without causing a single accident," said a spokesperson. Four Self-Driving Cars Involved In Accidents [bbc.co.uk]

BeeDeeDubbleU

9:50 am on May 12, 2015 (gmt 0)

I just don't get this. What's the point of sending a car out on its own?

piatkow

7:27 pm on May 12, 2015 (gmt 0)

What's the point of sending a car out on its own?

To pick up its owner?

I still have an image of several thousand driverless cars all trying to pick up their owners at the entrance to a stadium after a mega concert for championship match.

LifeinAsia

9:00 pm on May 12, 2015 (gmt 0)

What's the point of sending a car out on its own?

There comes a time in every little car's life when it's time to leave the nest and venture out on their own.

Seriously, if there is someone in the car who can act as a backup, then the "driverless" technology isn't really being proven.

Also, instead of cars, consider trucks. For long-haul trucking, the driver doesn't really serve any purpose other than, well, driving, between point A and point B. Shipments can arrive faster/cheaper without federally mandated rest breaks and employee salaries/benefits.

lucy24

10:57 pm on May 12, 2015 (gmt 0)

Under Californian law

:: wince ::
Psst! BBC! "Californian" is a noun. The adjective is "California". They probably mispronounce "Nevada" too.

Samizdata

11:18 pm on May 12, 2015 (gmt 0)

Psst! BBC! "Californian" is a noun. The adjective is "California".

The BBC uses English, the language of England (where it is based).

In English, California is a noun, and Californian is an adjective.

US usage may differ, but the parts of speech in English are clear.

They probably mispronounce "Nevada" too.

No, it's Michigan that native English speakers tend to mispronounce.

...

guggi2000

5:37 am on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

Where did that happen, in a lab with four self-driving cars?

tangor

7:02 am on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

I'm sure the self-driving automated insurance adjuster app was soon on scene. :)

BeeDeeDubbleU

8:34 am on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

Does this mean that we would be able to go to the pub in the car and get pissed then let the car take us home? :)

piatkow

9:06 am on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

Does this mean that we would be able to go to the pub in the car and get pissed then let the car take us home? :)

In the UK, not without a change in the law.

tangor

9:52 am on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

Wow! Didn't know there was a law against automated cars n the UK!

guggi2000

11:51 am on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

Too bad that the developers of the car didn't have a car to take them home.

piatkow

3:21 pm on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

Wow! Didn't know there was a law against automated cars n the UK!

The reference was to a previous post about drink driving. At the moment, even if you are sleeping on the back seat, you can be prosecuted if you exceed the drink drive limit. If you have whatever token an autonomous vehicle requires to make it go then you are "in charge" and have to be sober.

(Subject to the usual qualifications that this is a lay opinion)

LifeinAsia

4:37 pm on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

No one seems to have asked the obvious question- had any of the autonomous cars involved in the accidents been drinking (or smoking)?

lucy24

5:15 pm on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

go to the pub in the car and get pissed

Perfectly legal in the US. No law against angry driving.

I didn't realize it was even possible to mispronounce "Michigan". But then, I once knew a Tcheryl (spelled Cheryl). They can't stop parents from mispronouncing their children's names.

engine

5:31 pm on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

I worry when self-driving cars decide they want a day out on their own! :)

BeeDeeDubbleU

5:32 pm on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

OK Lucy, how about pished? ;)

LifeinAsia

5:34 pm on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

No law against angry driving.

Actually, that's not quite true [ghsa.org].

guggi2000

5:56 pm on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

Honestly, would you put your kids in a self driving car on the way to school anytime during the next decade?

guggi2000

5:58 pm on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

It would be fun to test those cars in New Delhi or Istanbul. It would be like 7 seconds to total loss... :-)

Samizdata

7:45 pm on May 13, 2015 (gmt 0)

I didn't realize it was even possible to mispronounce "Michigan"

It's easy with a mouthful of potato ships.

It would be fun to test those cars in New Delhi or Istanbul

They could always be programmed to treat traffic lights as optional.

...

EditorialGuy

8:29 pm on May 14, 2015 (gmt 0)

Does this mean that we would be able to go to the pub in the car and get pissed then let the car take us home? :)

That depends on how much ethanol shows up in the car exhaust during the breathalyzer test.