Driverless cars coming soon to a California road near you

KilljoyKlown

KilljoyKlown

Whatever
Valued Senior Member
Well I guess if it works in California it can work anywhere. But I think I'd be very nervous about it. How would you explain getting pulled over for being on the phone? Well officer I was letting my car do the driving, so I could talk on the phone.:D


Drivers in California may soon find themselves sharing the road with driverless cars. A bill passed by the state's legislature gave the OK to introduce driverless cars onto streets in the next 10 years. The bill gives the California DMV until 2015 to figure out a new set of rules and procedures for cars that would cruise around on autopilot, but a human being would still be required to sit behind the wheel in case the automatic functions failed — or decided to rebel against their human overlords. No word yet on whether an automatic middle finger feature is being incorporated in new designs. [Source]

http://now.msn.com/driverless-cars-approved-with-california-bill
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Sounds interesting. During Halloween I would try sitting in the passenger seat. An put a fake skeleton in the driver seat.
:D look officer no hands! What ya going to do!
Wonder what its going to cost?
 
R1D2 said:
Sounds interesting. During Halloween I would try sitting in the passenger seat. An put a fake skeleton in the driver seat.
:D look officer no hands! What ya going to do!
Wonder what its going to cost?
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I don't know, but I want a TV and wet bar in mine.:D
 
Yeah, I'd be nervous about it as well. It takes all the fun away from it, having to sit behind the driver's seat. Not much of an upgrade from cruise control.
 
todd said:
Yeah, I'd be nervous about it as well. It takes all the fun away from it, having to sit behind the driver's seat. Not much of an upgrade from cruise control.
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Yes, it would take some getting used to. Maybe if the windshield was opaque, that would help a bit.:D
 
If your still required to sit in the seat then why do you need new legislation?
Will you need a licence?
Will kids be able to have one?
If the car speeds will you be charged?
If your drunk can you "drive" one?
 
Asguard said:
If your still required to sit in the seat then why do you need new legislation?
Will you need a license?
Will kids be able to have one?
If the car speeds will you be charged?
If your drunk can you "drive" one?
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It should qualify as the designated driver, so drinking, watching TV or just talking on the phone should be fine.
 
Whoa! I didn't know you could drink and drive. I'm not so sure that would fly too well with an officer. As far as talking on the phone, that shouldn't be a problem, its legal here in Georgia. Only texting is illegal, and that’s hard for them to prove.
 
todd said:
Whoa! I didn't know you could drink and drive. I'm not so sure that would fly too well with an officer. As far as talking on the phone, that shouldn't be a problem, its legal here in Georgia. Only texting is illegal, and that’s hard for them to prove.
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Welcome to the forum. The article says the state of California is going to be the first state to allow robot cars to drive people. If the car is doing all the driving with no chance of human interference. I can't see any problem with drinking and watching a DVD while you are getting from point A to point B.
 
KilljoyKlown said:
Welcome to the forum. The article says the state of California is going to be the first state to allow robot cars to drive people. If the car is doing all the driving with no chance of human interference. I can't see any problem with drinking and watching a DVD while you are getting from point A to point B.
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The article also says that "drivers" will be required to sit behind the wheel in case of failure. Presumably the same rules will apply to that person as they would to a driver today.
 
Balerion said:
The article also says that "drivers" will be required to sit behind the wheel in case of failure. Presumably the same rules will apply to that person as they would to a driver today.
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Well I was thinking when the cars have proven themselves (Don't know how much time that will take), but I would guess a few years at the very least.
 
As far as I can tell they are safer than human drivers. They would be safest only if every car was self-driving, the cars that are driven by humans would create danger. What is the point of autopilot if you have to be constantly aware. If the autopilot malfunctions you would think it would be able to bring itself to a safe stop and all the other cars on autopilot would simply pass it. I want to sleep or do work. Weren't the google cars going around for weeks with only one accident from when another car rear ended it?
 
data2.0 said:
What is the point of autopilot if you have to be constantly aware.
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Seems like a silly question. Airplanes have autopilot as well, and pilots still need to be aware in case of something unexpected. Using autopilot decreases the odds of an accident being caused by human error, but if that system fails, someone should be behind the wheel.

If the autopilot malfunctions you would think it would be able to bring itself to a safe stop and all the other cars on autopilot would simply pass it. I want to sleep or do work.
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Okay, but this is presuming that all other cars on the road are automated. This will clearly not be the case, so a car coming to a halt in the middle of traffic can be problematic. Get your rest and work done before you leave the house.
 
todd said:
Whoa! I didn't know you could drink and drive. I'm not so sure that would fly too well with an officer. As far as talking on the phone, that shouldn't be a problem, its legal here in Georgia. Only texting is illegal, and that’s hard for them to prove.
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Last I heard, there were still quite a few states in which drinking while driving was not illegal. What matters is only your BAC.

Twenty years ago you could drive all the way from Florida to Washington with an open bottle of hooch in your lap. Today there are discontinuities in that route.

If anyone has updates to this statistic, please let us know. Particularly if you live in one of the states on the diagonal path between Florida and Washington.
 
Fraggle Rocker said:
Last I heard, there were still quite a few states in which drinking while driving was not illegal. What matters is only your BAC.

Twenty years ago you could drive all the way from Florida to Washington with an open bottle of hooch in your lap. Today there are discontinuities in that route.

If anyone has updates to this statistic, please let us know. Particularly if you live in one of the states on the diagonal path between Florida and Washington.
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Interesting link below, but it doesn't say what the legal limits are in those states. I doubt if they are all 0.08.

State-by-State DUI Penalties


Found another link that says all states have DUI laws now.

DRIVING DRUNK: Drunk Driving (DUI / DWI) Laws by State

http://ohsinc.com/drunk-driving-laws-dui-by-state/
 
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In Georgia and Florida you can't have an open container in your vehicle period, even if you are sober. This includes all passengers in the vehicle. The only way around this is if you are in a limo or like a party bus.
 
todd said:
In Georgia and Florida you can't have an open container in your vehicle period, even if you are sober. This includes all passengers in the vehicle. The only way around this is if you are in a limo or like a party bus.
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It's easier to count the states without open container laws.
800px-USA-open-container-law-path2006-2svg.png


However I'm thinking when driverless cars have proven themselves, the laws might change.:D
 
todd said:
In Georgia and Florida you can't have an open container in your vehicle period, even if you are sober. This includes all passengers in the vehicle. The only way around this is if you are in a limo or like a party bus.
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I don't know if this is still true, but campers (the Brits call them "caravans") and motor homes used to fall into that category also. Legally they qualify as "homes," even if it's possible to walk from the cab into the living quarters while the vehicle is moving. But the open container has to be back in the living quarters.
 
actually I like laws against people having ANYONE drinking in cars, concidering passanger cars do NOT come with privacy screens. A significant portion of car crashes result from the drunk idiot in the passanger seat or in the back of the car distracting the driver, throwing things at the driver, jumping up and down, grabbing the wheel, spiling things on the driver and generally being a pain in the ass. Sure not everyone needs a zero BAC or even one under 0.05 but at the very least they can stop getting drunker AS your trying to drive
 
Asguard said:
actually I like laws against people having ANYONE drinking in cars, considering passenger cars do NOT come with privacy screens. A significant portion of car crashes result from the drunk idiot in the passenger seat or in the back of the car distracting the driver, throwing things at the driver, jumping up and down, grabbing the wheel, spilling things on the driver and generally being a pain in the ass. Sure not everyone needs a zero BAC or even one under 0.05 but at the very least they can stop getting drunker AS your trying to drive
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Yeah! I'm not very fond of being around drunks in or out of vehicles, but I'm not against responsible drinking. By the way what are the penalties for open container in a car? I'm sure it's not anything as bad as a DUI.
 
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