[Nfbmo] More on self-driven cars.

[Gary Wunder]

Google truly believes this can be done, and they note that of the 300
thousand miles that their cars have been driven, they have been involved in
only one accident--they were hit from behind by a car which was driven by a
human.

,

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbmo [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Fred Olver
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2013 12:55 PM
To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List; NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List
Subject: [Nfbmo] More on self-driven cars.

I hope Google is right.  

Autonomous cars face hurdles before wide use By Angela Greiling Keane
Bloomberg News Google sees self-driving cars as being available to consumers
in three to five years. Regulators and the insurance industry aren't so sure
it can happen that quickly. Software and electronic sensors couldn't fail
and would have to anticipate and react like a human. States may have to
decide how to license machines rather than people. Insurance companies have
to reassess how to assign fault after accidents. Safety standards have to be
rewritten to focus on electronics along with mechanics. The improvement can
be such that we can make cars that drive safer than people do," Anthony
Levandowski, product manager for Google's self-driving car technology, told
a Society of Automotive Engineers meeting in Washington last week. We expect
to release the technology in the next five years. In what form it gets
released is still to be determined.
U.S. auto-safety regulators are eager to reap the safety benefits that may
come from taking human error out of driving. About 33,000 people die
annually in traffic crashes in the U.S., a number that is falling yet almost
equal to the number of people who commit suicide each year. David
Strickland, head of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
used an analogy to "The Jetsons," a 1960s animated TV comedy featuring
gadgets including a flying car that folded into a briefcase. It's going to
make a huge difference in reducing crashes overall," Strickland said. While
crash-avoidance systems that can alert a driver or apply brakes in advance
of a wreck are coming to cars now, autonomous vehicles "are a long way off,"
he said. 
Fred Olver
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