Have all the electronic aids taken the fun out of driving?

If not, Google's going to try to: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/science/10google.html?_r=3&hp

 

They want to control all aspects of your life. No thanks.

 

It might actually put the fun back into driving. Just think... all those cretins who are always indulging in absolutely any menial distraction to take their mind off the task of driving can now devote the remaining 0.1% of their concentration away from driving and entirely to the tasks of talking on the phone, eating, rapping about gangsta lifestylez, or turning around in the driver's seat to tend to the baby in the back, while leaving the rest of the 'real' drivers to enjoy their time behind the wheel with the cretinmobiles around them now being safely piloted by Google's electronic aids.

Bring it on!!

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Interesting perspective Andrew

 

I had considered that when I posted the story but my question is how long will Big Brother let any of us actually drive for ourselves once it's "proved" that cars that drive themselves are "safer"? I don't like the possibility of anything like this. But that's my opinion, your mileage may vary...

 

screw big brother.(and while you're at it screw with a HUGE telephone pole google)

It's guys like the founder of WikiLeaks that'll keep those bastards on their toes

Count me in as well. If we let bureaucrats have their way, we'll all be living a life that is in all respects anathema to the "Ferrari lifestyle". Just like legislators exist merely to legislate, they will keep adding rules and regulations till there are none left to make.

You will live in an electronic Panopticon society catered to by nanny from cradle to grave and "enjoyment" is oultlawed, in favor of more pedestrian pursuits.

Not gonna happen to me. And if you're in favor of such a society you are my enemy, expect no quarter when your time comes, because none will be given.

Aside from that I have no strong feeling on the subject.

 

DITTO!

 

+1

This is why I ride a m/c ... I want to live MY life, not what somebody else thinks of how I should live.

I will never be part of this, never and they will never take my classic car from me either.
Pete

 

I only buy cars

1) that offers 5 or 6 speed so I can shift by myself
2) that DO NOT have i-Drive control like BMW
3) that has a manual oil dip stick so i can see for myself what level the oil is
4) ESC with a turn-me-off swtich if it has ESC at all

We already have cars that require no user interface. We call them buses. We get on, they go, we get off.

 

Maybe it's the optimist in me, but I think this could be fantastic. Someone at Google has a vision and a long outlook, saying "we have all this search and map data, now we need a practical application." You figure the pure search business model can only go so far, and Google is expanding its capability into other areas. In 20 years they won't be a "search" company. Imagine the traffic from The 5th Element or on Coruscant, and figure we're headed that way anyway. And it's cool that an internet company is succeeding where auto companies have had so much trouble.

Of course the driver in me wants to be sure we still have ways to play (mountain drives, track days, road trips), but I sure as hell would enjoy being able to relax or even work on my 25 mile daily commute.

 

It's a neat toy but what does it do in rain? Snow? What if a large truck up ahead drops an unsecured object onto the freeway? Will the car "see" when the object becomes unsecured and anticipate it falling off the truck? Will the car see kids on the side of the road playing and slow down a bit as a preemtive action incase one of the kids darts out into traffic? What about if there is a long line of cars up ahead swerving suddenly to avoid an obstacle? Will the car "see" the behavior of the other cars and anticipate the reason for swerving?

 

I would think that if you have lets say a scuderia and you put it in race or CST, it can still scare you silly. Which is fun.

 

Agreed. A lot of what passes for "driving" now is far scarier than the prospect of some kind of automated driving. Everyone is on the phone all the time, it seems. In San Diego, no one seems to realize that merging onto a freeway while doing 40 mph is actually not a great idea. Etc.

I don't see any way old cars will be retrofitted with all the necessary gear.

I would guess that we'll see 'smart car only' lanes that replace the current HOV lanes, or something similar.

 

I would agree with you on that. But IF these cars are proven to be safer, and Google would be defending that with every accident, then wouldn't insurance on these robo-driven cars be much lower (although I'm sure there'd be software crash insurance) than cars driven by humans? In fact wouldn't insurance rates go up dramatically for human driven cars? This could come to pass without any legislation but solely through financial means.

 

Very true.

But, devil's advocate, if these automated cars were demonstrably safer, wouldn't it be a desirable outcome if the population of cell-phone-behind-the-wheel idiots, drunks and texting teens weren't crashing into us? I think accident rates would go down for all of us.

Also, I suspect that we will at some point be paying a premium for the privilege of driving polluting, more dangerous cars on public roads anyway.

I do agree with your overall premise, though. Modern cars have gotten boring even without robo-car levels of control.

 

Do any of your guys work in IT? I do.

I can tell you very accurately that there is no such thing as an error free piece of code. For example the code that is used to fly a Boeing 747 has something like 10,000 errors which is why pilots are still required.

Flying a plane is a MILLION times less complex than driving a car with the infinite variables that can happen, ie. a child runs on to the road, etc.

Also look at the recent Toyota computer fnck up that caused at least 12 deaths with the car sticking at full throttle.

Look also at the recent Volvo demonstrations of their automatic braking systems that FAILED in Australia in front of journalists.

But in the end, do you really want YOUR life taken away from you. If we allow this very dangerous technology we are opening the door (which IMO is already too far open) to NO control over our own lives. We all ready have thousands more restrictions limiting our lives than our parents had and yet you are being conversed into a much larger one.

Seriously it is time to reduce technologies impact on our lives and return to maximising enjoyment not efficency.

If you do not want to control your car, please take a taxi or bus.
Pete

 

Bullfighter, I'm pretty sure you and I are in agreement in our views. I would be much happier if cell phones had never been invented but... My only concern is for those of us represented on enthusiasts sites like FerrariChat. Will the only place we get to stretch our toys be at a track?

PSK, I agree that the code would be overwhelming and will never be perfect but the question is will it be better than the SUV driving Mom on her cell with 3 fighting kids in the car. I'm not saying it will or won't be, I just read the article and though it would make for an interesting discussion topic.

 

No errors in my code.

Of course it was all COBOL.

 

The solution to poor driving is training.

Again do you want to live YOUR life or just go through the motions.

If this comes in all driver controlled cars will have to be removed from the road, because the only way this could really work is if the cars talked to each other.

I have children, do you?. I want them to have a rich life where they take risks and challenge themselves, and as I absolutely love driving I want then to have that enjoyment too. Already we cannot do so many things. They are trying to ban motorcycles in Europe ...

This is the thin edge of the wedge and I enjoy DOING things and you cannot do if some machine is the only thing allowed to do it .
Pete
ps: If this comes in, just like the Toyota fault, there will be many cases where the cars just did the wrong thing and families will be killed ... no different to Mom driving SUV other than we have a REAL person to blame.

Again watch the movies, we must control the machines NOT the other way around. Artificial Intelligence, which to control a car properly the computer will probably need, is a real and valid risk to us as human beings.

 

I've learned to abhor computers on my cars.

Something I haven't seen mentioned yet:
If the "automated" car became commonplace, its assumed infallibility would place those of us who dare to Drive squarely in the cross-hairs of lawyers and legislators as "dangerous nuisances", in every event of an accident with one of the new "i-Djit Bawxes On Wheels".

A sad day, if it actually comes to anything resembling that scenario.

 

I got a ride in a 458 a couple weeks ago. . . nothing short of fantastic. If anything, the electronic gizmos made it even better, as you could feel the electronics bringing the car around the corner faster than any normal human could. Sure it sucks when the traction control hits all the brakes in my car just when I'm starting to have fun. But when Ferrari et al can use the computers to work real magic and actually enhance the experience, I'm all for it. A standard clutch pedal and shifter is fun, but a paddle shift is just better. I'm sure getting out and hand-cranking the engine to life would add to the purity and rawness of the experience, but electric start sure is nice.

And for everyday driving, if half of these morons would step into a googlemobile and save the rest of us from their ineptitude, then it would make the driving experience much more fun and less stressful for the rest of us. Most folks use a car to go from A to B. If computers can make this A to B a better, safer, more efficient reality then why not? Improving the ability of the drivers on the road in America is just not a feasible possibility. Really it's not a possibility at all, feasible or not.

 

It's all fun and games, until a microsecond software glitch puts an eye out"

 

Say it isn't so Audi!

http://www.gizmag.com/audis-autonomous-audi-tt-conquers-pikes-peak-how-long-before-it-betters-a-human-driver/17001/

 

I'm not sure

Comparing my F40 to my Z06 which has several levels of traction control I'm definately faster in the Z bcus I have a lot more respect for the F40 cus I know she'll bite me in a heartbeat if I mess up while the Z covers for my mistakes

F40 is definately a lot scarier and much harder to push near the limit. They are both fun in different ways

 

First of all we should make a clear distinction between the "steer and brake" people behind the wheel and drivers behinid the wheel. For the steer and brake crowd, it is simply safer to take them out of the loop. Drivers want to commune with their cars, brakers and steerers just want to get from point A to point B.

Drivers are out there thinking about the car, the traffic, the traction at each contact patch, and thinking about what control inputs will be required in about 0.3 seconds into the future. There is nothing in the car that will spill, slide, be damaged or move about if some control input needs to be used at its most extreme level (steer, brakes, accelerate,...). In short, the car environment is ready for the car's capabilities to be utilized.

For me, rowing the gear box, manipulating the clutch pedal, avoiding use of the ABS system is about communing with the car. And in this sense, all the electronic gismos detract from the experience. Sure, the electronicified cars are undoubtably faster. But, like fine wine and sex, there are some things in life that are better when taken more slowly...