The future of speeding

[thecloud]

You think they are going to ever in anyone currently alive's lifetime going to ban humans driving?

Well, the Cubs just won the World Series. That was something nobody thought would happen in our lifetimes either.

I don't think "humans driving" will be banned outright, but I can definitely see many urban areas and freeways being designated for autonomous driving. I expect it will start much like London's low emission zone, where you will be encouraged to not drive yourself by the application of heavy usage fees, then eventually it will become an infraction once the majority of vehicles are capable of autonomy.

And humans are already banned from driving on Mackinac Island, although that law is more about the past than the future.

 

[theboom1]

Well, the Cubs just won the World Series. That was something nobody thought would happen in our lifetimes either.

I don't think "humans driving" will be banned outright, but I can definitely see many urban areas and freeways being designated for autonomous driving. I expect it will start much like London's low emission zone, where you will be encouraged to not drive yourself by the application of heavy usage fees, then eventually it will become an infraction once the majority of vehicles are capable of autonomy.

And humans are already banned from driving on Mackinac Island, although that law is more about the past than the future.

Lol on the cubs

But yes I can agree that in the middle of big cities like LA and NY that especially during rush hour, everyone would need to be in autonomous mode. I can see that becoming a law. On freeways I can see a lane or two possibly becoming autonomous only (at least in rush hour) but I still think there will be lanes that you can human drive in, with the computer preventing crashes obviously on the freeway and every other road.

As far as speeding goes. We have merely skilled humans that have the reaction time for 200+ mph when racing so why not computers. They have that roborace thing now you know. Imagine where the people that have normal cars or an uber travel at normal speed, but if you have a sports car that is capable of safely going at very high speed, you can. And you can still human drive because the computer in preventing a crash. I would LOVE to have a p100d luda on an road with no speed limit, or better yet the roadster 2.0. The cross county interstate travel would be so fun if you were allowed to drive at high speed because its perfectly safe and the twisty mountain roads would become a lot less stressful at high speed knowing that the computer keeps you from running off the side of a cliff.

 

[thecloud]

The cross county interstate travel would be so fun if you were allowed to drive at high speed because its perfectly safe and the twisty mountain roads would become a lot less stressful at high speed knowing that the computer keeps you from running off the side of a cliff.

Nothing is perfectly safe. "The computer" that you believe will keep you from death is running a stew of code written by human programmers on a deadline. It's a complex system with multiple interacting components, and engineers working on one part of it may not always anticipate all the consequences of each change. You trust they haven't missed any edge cases, so to speak, and the system was thoroughly tested. And it will probably work correctly under most circumstances.

So, you can imagine feeling less stress as your car is zipping around the edge of a cliff at high speeds, but I would be hover-handing the steering wheel anyway. Assuming future cars have steering wheels, of course.

 

[Jim R]

Speeding is exceeding the allowed limit. So, no, speeding will never be allowed. (Think it through)

You might want to re-word the question to what you really mean, whatever that is. Higher speed limits than currently? No limit at all?

 

[thecloud]

Speeding is exceeding the allowed limit. So, no, speeding will never be allowed. (Think it through)

Not necessarily. There are exceptions where speeding is allowed, such as a doctor enroute to an emergency.

You might want to re-word the question to what you really mean, whatever that is. Higher speed limits than currently? No limit at all?

I took it to mean "allowed by the car," not "allowed by law," but of course that means the same thing as "possible."

 

[theboom1]

Nothing is perfectly safe. "The computer" that you believe will keep you from death is running a stew of code written by human programmers on a deadline. It's a complex system with multiple interacting components, and engineers working on one part of it may not always anticipate all the consequences of each change. You trust they haven't missed any edge cases, so to speak, and the system was thoroughly tested. And it will probably work correctly under most circumstances.

So, you can imagine feeling less stress as your car is zipping around the edge of a cliff at high speeds, but I would be hover-handing the steering wheel anyway. Assuming future cars have steering wheels, of course.

Well everyone here seems to think that the computer can keep you from death. Im just going along with it. But yes as soon as they get to the point where it can fully self drive to a high degree of safety at the current 70 mph, then it will very quickly be able to go faster and faster. You just need to process the same information quicker. And like I said, if your car is capable of it both hardware and software. As I have mentioned before, you would probable regulate the very high speed to lower traffic times or locations where any potential safety decrease would mainly only affect you and yes im pretty sure that anyone doing this would still be paying close attention. I am talking like when your going fast, you the human are still driving with the hands on the wheel, the computer is just there to react if you don't quick enough. ex: if you don't brake fast enough, you are about to run of the road, prevent you from changing a lane when it could cause an accident, stuff like that.

Yes there will be steering wheels in the future, there will be so many people that will oppose banning it.

 

[Pdub2015]

I saw the original question like Jim R did... by definition, "speeding" (exceeding a posted limit) will not be allowed. But by the car? Interesting question, but I think others have weighed in on the idea that speeding is truly limited by conditions: condition of the particular road surface and geometry, weather conditions, and most importantly, DRIVER conditions. Is the driver capable of actually handling the speed at which they wish to drive? Do they have the skill and reflexes, the visual acuity and awareness? Some people are flat out dangerous at 25 mph.

So to answer the modified version of the question, I side with those that favor true autonomy in which we are merely passengers... and we can engage in other productive (or entertaining) pursuits while being transported from point A to point B. As such, there will be no need for the thrill- (and sometimes ego- ) based speeding we regularly refer to. And this is coming from a superbike rider, after a blissful Fall afternoon of high speed riding. I guess the more "responsible" speeders try to do it in circumstances that reduce the risk of harm to others (empty highways or lonely country roads... or even better, on actual racetracks), so we feel we're somewhat justified in having that ability. But if my daily personal transportation needs could be cost effectively provided by a robot chauffeur, I would probably have less of a need to "blow out the cobwebs" on backroads every weekend.

 

[theboom1]

I saw the original question like Jim R did... by definition, "speeding" (exceeding a posted limit) will not be allowed. But by the car? Interesting question, but I think others have weighed in on the idea that speeding is truly limited by conditions: condition of the particular road surface and geometry, weather conditions, and most importantly, DRIVER conditions. Is the driver capable of actually handling the speed at which they wish to drive? Do they have the skill and reflexes, the visual acuity and awareness? Some people are flat out dangerous at 25 mph.

So to answer the modified version of the question, I side with those that favor true autonomy in which we are merely passengers... and we can engage in other productive (or entertaining) pursuits while being transported from point A to point B. As such, there will be no need for the thrill- (and sometimes ego- ) based speeding we regularly refer to. And this is coming from a superbike rider, after a blissful Fall afternoon of high speed riding. I guess the more "responsible" speeders try to do it in circumstances that reduce the risk of harm to others (empty highways or lonely country roads... or even better, on actual racetracks), so we feel we're somewhat justified in having that ability. But if my daily personal transportation needs could be cost effectively provided by a robot chauffeur, I would probably have less of a need to "blow out the cobwebs" on backroads every weekend.

Well that's you man. Some of us won't just become passengers. I prefer people to have options. Your not going to ban human drivers. Why? Because not everyone shares your views. There are a lot of things I with we could ban but we can't because some like to do them.

 

[Pdub2015]

Well that's you man. Some of us won't just become passengers. I prefer people to have options. Your not going to ban human drivers. Why? Because not everyone shares your views. There are a lot of things I with we could ban but we can't because some like to do them.

Well, I never called for a ban on human drivers, so there's that. But I get what you're saying. However, I liken it to the progress made in elevators; at some point it just won't make much sense to "self drive" for the vast majority of our transportation needs, and manually-driven "cars" will become items of antiquity, at least in the first world.

 

[engle]

In the case of Teslas, we already know the raw data available to the self-driving software will be vastly superior to what we human drivers have access to. For example, I don't have eyes on the back of my head! If the software running on a supercomputer truly is a far better driver than we are, then I see no reason why self-driving cars won't be able to safely drive much faster (e.g. Autobahn speeds) than we can as humans. Based on what I've experienced with AP 1.0 on the freeway at 90 mph when I tested it, I think, at least on the freeway, this will definitely be true.

In fact, I can foresee that 3+ lane highways will have "self-driving vehicle only" lanes on the far left, replacing today's diamond/express lanes. Human drivers will be relegated to the slower lanes. As EV battery capacity increases, it may not lead to much more highway range, since these vehicles will be routinely self-driving at 120+ mph.

Do you think speeding will be possible in the future? When all cars are part of a network, all data from the cars shared and cars are primarily self driving, will society accept the possibility of speeding? As a freedom lover I am not particularly thrilled about the idea of never being able to go faster than the legal speed limit, but in all honesty - it is a freedom I love to have myself but would not mind seeing other not having to increase the safety on the roads. Statistics are crystal clear - reducing speed dramatically reduces traffic fatalities. I think a lot of countries will opt to stop the possibility of speeding, weighing the interests of individual freedom against saving lives. This could be done either by technically preventing speeding or by fines being "autoissued" when you exceed speed limits, since all data of your driving will be available.

On the positive side, I still think network and self driving will mean faster transportation anyway and the vastly improved safety may even allow higher speed limits. Self driving cars in a network should theoretically be able to go 100 mph with only a few meters between them on the highway without any major safety concerns.

Human drivers wanting to speed may have to go to closed off racing circuits.

What do you think?