[AutonomousVehicles] hello from a very interested and excitednfbmember

Thu Jun 7 02:24:18 UTC 2018

You're right Dave, there are different standards -- we expect that
autonomous vehicles will be safer than is the current state of affairs.
This is because, if a person encounters an unpredictable situation, he or
she may not be held accountable for the situation, even while being legally
responsible for the outcomes -- the law understands that a driver's
reactions are made in the heat of the moment and any judgments made have to
consider context.  However, if an autonomous car gets into an accident, it
is because the engineers designed it to behave the way it did in that
situation, and the whole company would be liable for any single accident
because the car's behavior is built in.

This will take lots of technical and social innovations.

For example, if autonomous vehicles are designed to operate on a network in
which each car is able to 'talk to' nearby vehicles, then cars on the road
can pack together like schools of fish or swarms of insects, while never
touching each other and always adapting to the small changes that will
inevitably occur in road conditions, weather and so on.  If those same
networks extend miles ahead, then these schools or swarms of cars will have
information that enables them to slow and stop -- if necessary -- before
arriving at the traffic jam or stoppage. Both of these things will make
cars safer and even more efficient.

If all cars have this sort of network transponder, then perhaps we will end
up with the expectation that pedestrians have similar devices somehow built
into their clothing, phones, bags, bikes, or scooters, so that cars know
where they (that is, we) are.  We may find that we have to accommodate the
cars in some cases, rather than the other way around.

Networks that support this sort of thing almost have to be separate from
the current Internet, and made more durable and less prone to hacking.
(But what person would want to wear a beacon that allows anything or anyone
connected to the network to know where they are?  But of course, we already
have that with our cellphones...)

If cars no longer require windows for drivers to see, then cars can be
designed to be much stronger and able to protect passengers in the event of
any kind of collision. The passenger compartment would be quite literally a
capsule that could withstand severe impacts. All passengers would
reasonably have to be strapped in like pilots or astronauts in their
cockpits.  Windows could be replaced with screens that project pictures of
the outside, or of anything else entirely!

All of these things will take new technical innovations, as well as new
regulations and even laws, and along the way, every person will have to
acclimate to these new technological possibilities and leashes.  The new
constituency of drivers who are blind or visually impaired, or otherwise
prevented from driving current automobiles, will have to become a vocal and
participating group in ensuring that the whole system is working for
themselves and everyone.

_don

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don Winiecki, Ed.D., Ph.D.
*Professor of Ethics & Morality in Professional Practice*
Boise State University, College of Engineering
E-mail: dwiniecki at boisestate.edu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~d

On Wed, Jun 6, 2018 at 6:31 PM David Andrews via AutonomousVehicles <
autonomousvehicles at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Not to be hard-hearted, cold, unfeeling, etc., but over 30,000
> persons are killed each year in the United States in human-driven cars.
>
> I don't wish for anyone to die, and we do have to make these things
> as safe as possible, and I think safety has been ignored in some
> instances, but we are also using a different standard for
> human-driven and autonomous vehicles.
>
> Dave
>
> At 08:48 AM 6/6/2018, you wrote:
> >Probably just because I'm extremely afraid of accidents LOL.
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: Daniel Perry via AutonomousVehicles <autonomousvehicles at nfbnet.org
> >To: "autonomous Vehicles Discussion" <autonomousvehicles at nfbnet.org
> >Date sent: Wed, 6 Jun 2018 08:18:18 -0400
> >Subject: Re: [AutonomousVehicles] hello from a very interested and
> >excitednfbmember
> >
> >me too, but I've been told not to wurry since everyone seems to be behind
> >them. I think the crashes are all just a part of the process morbid as
> that
> >sounds.
> >
> >--------------------------------------------------
> >From: "Ali via AutonomousVehicles" <autonomousvehicles at nfbnet.org
> >Sent: Tuesday, June 5, 2018 11:13 PM
> >To: "autonomous Vehicles Discussion" <autonomousvehicles at nfbnet.org
> >Cc: "Ali" <aliherky at gmail.com
> >Subject: Re: [AutonomousVehicles] hello from a very interested and excited
> >nfbmember
> >
> >I have high hopes for the future, but right now am too worried about the
> >multiple crashes that have been had.
> >
> >Ali
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: Daniel Perry via AutonomousVehicles <autonomousvehicles at nfbnet.org
> >To: <autonomousvehicles at nfbnet.org
> >Date sent: Tue, 5 Jun 2018 14:59:30 -0400
> >Subject: [AutonomousVehicles] hello from a very interested and excited
> >nfbmember
> >
> >Hello everyone, my name is Daniel Perry and I found this list and
> >immediately signed up because I'm extremely excited about the prospect of
> >autonomous vehicles being a reality as well as we the totally blind being
> >able to use them. I can't wait to own one as soon as they're afordable
> >enough for your average blind person to purchase and own. I'll be very
> >excited to see how Waymo progresses after its launch later on this year.
> >What's the latest in our efforts to make these vehicles accessible to the
> >blind? have a wonderful day and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
>
>
> ---
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