Wednesday, July 26, 2017

The major obstacles to self driving vehicles worldwide

begin quote from:
autonomous car
Among the potential benefits of autonomous cars is a significant reduction in traffic collisions;[12][13] the resulting injuries; and related costs, including a lower need for insurance. Autonomous cars are also predicted to offer major increases in traffic flow;[14] enhanced mobility for children, the elderly,[15] disabled and poor people; the relief of travelers from driving and navigation chores; lower fuel consumption; significantly reduced needs for parking space in cities;[16] a reduction in crime;[17] and the facilitation of different business models for mobility as a service, especially those involved in the sharing economy.[18][19]
Among the main obstacles to widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles, in addition to the technological challenges, are disputes concerning liability; the time period needed to turn an existing stock of vehicles from non-autonomous to autonomous; resistance by individuals to forfeit control of their cars; consumer concern about the safety of driverless cars; implementation of legal framework and establishment of government regulations for self-driving cars; risk of loss of privacy and security concerns, such as hackers or terrorism; concerns about the resulting loss of driving-related jobs in the road transport industry; and risk of increased suburbanization as driving becomes faster and less onerous without proper public policies in place to avoid more urban sprawl. Many of these issues are due to the fact that Autonomous Things such as autonomous vehicles (and self-navigating drones) are allowing, for the first time, the computers to roam freely, with all the related safety and security concerns.

end quote.

As you can see in the quote from Wikipedia above there are many benefits but also many problems with converting to more and more Autonomous cars.

I see this convenience as mostly a danger for the whole human race.
Here's why:
1. more men on earth are employed as drivers than any other profession. So, if self driving cars, and trucks and buses become the norm, all these men (and their sons) will be unemployed which could create revolutions and unrest worldwide. If you have seen trucker or bus driver or taxi driver strikes in the past anywhere on earth, then you can imagine just how bad it could get worldwide.

2.  Software will ALWAYS be vulnerable to hackers. Hackers are ALWAYS going to be killing people in autonomous cars. This is inevitable.

note: The only way to avoid this would be to allow no communication with the outside world to enter the Autonomous vehicle ever. And this just isn't presently possible given today's technology of GPS etc.

3. There are Always going to be unusual circumstances that an autonomous vehicles likely won't be able to process. For example, how many times have things fallen off vehicles, limbs fallen off trees, sand blown across roads from sandstorms, tumbleweeds hit your car, little children or balls from little children run out into the road in front of you, tornadoes touching the ground suddenly, floods coming out of nowhere, etc. ?

So, likely software will have no Idea at all what is going on in any of these situations. A driver might respond in time recognizing the problems. Software will not and people in these kinds of situations are sure to be injured, maimed or die all over the world ongoing.

So, the convenience of having self driving cars will be limited by all the maimings  and deaths the next 100 years or more. And just likely when all these bugs are worked out we likely will get a Carrington Event which will bring self driving planes out of the sky by the thousands and stop all or most electric vehicles everywhere on one side of the planet. This is inevitable given all present variables by the way. It is not even IF it is ONLY WHEN!

Solar storm of 1859 - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859
The Solar storm of 1859—known as the Carrington Event—was a powerful geomagnetic solar storm during solar cycle 10 (1855–1867). A solar coronal mass ejection hit Earth's magnetosphere and induced one of the largest geomagnetic storms on record, September 1–2, 1859.

What If the Biggest Solar Storm on Record Happened Today?

news.nationalgeographic.com/.../110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carring...
Mar 4, 2011 - Repeat of 1859 Carrington Event would devastate modern world, experts say. ... As solar storms go, the Valentine's Day flare was actually modest. ... In fact, the biggest solar storm on record happened in 1859, during a solar maximum about the same size as the one we're entering, according ...

A Perfect Solar Superstorm: The 1859 Carrington Event - History in the ...

www.history.com/news/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event
Mar 14, 2012 - The flare spewed electrified gas and subatomic particles toward Earth, and the resulting geomagnetic storm—dubbed the “Carrington Event”—was the largest on record to have struck the planet.

 

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