Sharing the Road With Driverless Cars

[AB Editor]

 

This poll is closed.

Would you trust a driverless car that didn't have a person inside? (e.g. for freight purposes)

• No, I wouldn't trust driverless cars at all - 226 votes
• 72%
• Yes, I would trust a driverless car with no-one inside - 54 votes
• 17%
• Yes, but only for small vehicles - 24 votes
• 8%
• Yes, but only for freight - 11 votes
• 3%

See final stats

Stats until: 01:18 Fri 19th Apr 2024 (Refreshed every 5 minutes)

© AnswerBank Ltd 2000 - 2024. All Rights Reserved.

[bhg481]

When computers know they have a problem they go into "safe" mode, unlike people who tend to go into "it'll be alright" mode.

[Zacs-Master]

They're already here! I'd trust a driverless vehicle more than a human controlled one. Can't believe the poll results.

[Hopkirk]

Does your computer ever 'hang' and go unresponsive?

Does it ever need re-booting?

What if the computer controlling the car does that at a critical moment?

[bhg481]

Does your driver ever daydream and fiddle with the radio / sat nav / cellphone?

Does the driver ever doze and need a nudge?

What if he does that at a critical moment?

Is there a back-up driver as there will be a computer?

Does the driver have eyes looking forwards, backwards and sideways at the same time? Can the driver's eyes see through fog?

[jno]

at least my driver doesn't force me to travel to the shops of advertisers who want to target me becasue of something their robots have seen in my emails. You just know that's what a Google car will do.

[EDDIE51]

Hopkirk if and when driverless cars are on the road they will have several computers on board so there is instant back up if one fails.

[ToraToraTora]

I'm pi55ed, asleep on the back seat of my car as it drives me home. It runs over a child. Who's fault is it? When that can be resolved we can have driverless cars.

[ToraToraTora]

not withstanding the above, I work in IT and I would not trust a driverless anything. It would have been programmed by flawed humans.

[bhg481]

TTT - it would have been programmed by flawed humans; as opposed to being driven by flawed humans.

[SpikeyBush]

what happens when sensors go faulty? In aeroplanes they crash, look at the Air France flight from Rio where the peto tubes froze up. Driverless cars, or cars where the only occupants are allowed to be inebriated or asleep or otherwise making no contribution to the journey are equally vulnerable. And if they are scaled back so just a little human intervention is allowed removes common sense. Take, for example, a car that makes it impossible to break the legal speed limit. The temptation will be there to keep the foot down at maximum legal speed. So you are out in the lanes where it is legal to do 60mph. Come up to a sharp bend that can't be taken at 60 (of which there are plenty) and it will end in tears.

[baza]

Years ago two trains on the DLR crashed into each other, the service is run by computer but the trains can overridden by human operators. The cause of the crash was "HUMAN ERROR" according to the inquiry.
Make of that what you will.

[elizabethsarah]

Only in toytown

[BRIGHT SPARK]

The insurance proposal form could be interesting!

[ToraToraTora]

if this post is representative of the general public then 70% don't trust them anyway!