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ROBOT_CARS
May 26, 2012
January 28, 2013
Car-driving, for better or worse, most
likely worse, is one of the few areas where
citizens are trusted with dangerous
equipment and expected to use it responsibly.
We all like to complain about how bad
they are at it-- certainly I like to--
but you can easily argue it the other The overall result is pretty
way, that it's amazing the result isn't bad though: something like
much worse than it is. Many people 40,000 deaths per year in
rely on cars for their main mode of the US, as a result of
transit, and many of them manage to "accidents".
survive that way for decades without
serious incident. And that's just the
beginning of the ills
that can be laid at the
As a purely symbolic issue, door of our car addiction.
I applaud the fact that we
expect citizens to behave The obesity epidemic, the
like responsible adults at fragmentation of communities
the wheel of a car, and also into "suburbs", and yeah,
applaud that most of them the air pollution, though I
really do. suspect that's the *least*
of the problems.
This is one reason I look on
the inevitable deployment of AUTOMOTIVE_GUILT
robot cars with a note of
sadness...
I think it's interesting that
at present, the conservatives
absolutely *love* this idea:
"Ha, we're gonna get robot
cars before we get high speed
rail! Take that you train
loving socialist bastards!"
The next step after the *option* of
robot cars is the *requirement* to
use them-- once the liability In addition to the safety
issues are settled, and it becomes advantages robot cars really
clear that robot drivers really are will have advantages in
safer, then going off of autopilot fuel efficiency and pollution
becomes reckless behavior. reduction:
At present, cars work for many Human drivers are *really
people as a symbol of freedom and stupid* in this respect:
individuality: that's doomed. they constantly alternate
between standing on the
We've yet to see the usual brake and the gas in the
suspects complain that robot desperate hope that
cars are a threat to their they'll slip the next
freedom to drive macho, but light and get somewhere a
maybe they just can't think whole minute sooner.
two moves ahead.
We can expect robot cars
to be very sane, cautious,
drivers, adopting optimal
driving strategies (rather
The real trouble with robot that psychologically
cars though, is that I suspect appealing ones).
that they'll primarily act
as sprawl enablers. Someone Further, once everyone
willing to spend two hours has become spam in a
a day car commuting will now can-- I mean, has
think it's reasonable to take adopted the latest
that up to three or four hours. technology-- robot cars
will be able to draft
Even if you double the gas each other: you can
mileage, if people are suddenly expect to see them
willing to drive double the miles, linking up into "car
that's no advantage. trains", each traveling
through the hole in the
And much of the real damage air punched by the one
that cars do may get much ahead. Since the robots
worse: all know when the car
ahead is going to brake,
Energy efficiency and there's no problem with
environmental pollution tailgaiting.
isn't everything, there
are multiple other Oh, and the (spurious)
problems associated with a safety argument for
car-centered lifestyle SUVs goes away. No
from social isolation to point in driving a
gasoline guts. tank when no one is
going to crash.
"Oh boy, door-to-door
service! I'll never have
to walk *anywhere*! I'll
never have to sit near
anyone with a different
ethnic background!
Heaven!"
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