----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2010 11:18
PM
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] Fwd: Fw: [acb-l]
Google tests cars that can steer without drivers
"Flor
Thanks for posting this story.
While I don't wish
to burst anyone's buble or hopes, I seriously doubt
that this approach to
driving, if it proves implementable in the near
term, will mean little to
the blind."
Harry's comments. Not so, at all.
This will mean alot to the blind, and as I have told the auto companies
it will mean alot to everybody!
As a matter of fact, right now, on the 2010 Ford Torrace we have pieces
of it already:
1. adaptive cruse control.
2. blind spot detections.
On the 2010 Lincolns, we have The park assist, which takes over
parking the vehicle for the driver.
Mikes comments "goals of the developers have
nothing to do with this
hope;."
Again, not so. When the vehicle comes to market, anyone
will be able to have them.
Mikes comments "and the cost of such equipped vehicles will
prove
insurmountable for the typical blind consumer."
Harry's comments. In some cases, but not all. I know a blind
man here in the town I live in, who, got a mortgage, and bought his own house,
and many blind folks in this country own homes of their own. Just listen
to the blind handy man show, and you'll see what I mean. The blind will
be able to get car loans like anyone else, just like any blind person, can now
go to their bank and get a mortgage for a home.
Mikes comments. "Right now, the U.S. and much of the rest of the
world have far more
critical issues to deal with and resolve than
automated driving cars."
Harrys comments. Not so, not at all. Accident prevention is
very high on the governments list of priorities, and it is in other countries
as well. I can tell you that it is, in the case of insurance
companies. If people can get these vehicles, (after they're tested and
perfected because they won't be on the market till the auto companies and
government, certify they're perfected and need no human driver), insurance
prices will drop big time, because you won't need PLPD, you won't need medical
riders on auto insurance policies, and any property damage coverage for others
property that's damaged because of an accident. So, you bet the
insurance companies want this technology!
Mikes comments. "And even if the technology can be proven viable,
there are a set of issues
that go far beyond viability when it comes to
actually having these cars
travel roadways with drivers behind the wheel,
say nothing of drivers not
qualified or able to handle these cars in an
instance when things fail."
Harry's comments. I'll say it again, we will not let these vehicles
be bought by anyone till they're completely tested and perfected, not at
all.
As far as people being qualified, that won't be necessary any longer,
because drivers training won't be needed any more, because the human facter
will be completely eliminated!
Mikes comments. "Dan cites his concerns about typical drivers;
well, I'd be even more
worried by non-attentioning paying drivers who will
tangentially have to
take responsibility in the event of failure."
Harry's comments. As I said before, , these vehicles will not be on
the market, till they are tested to perfection.
Mikes comments. "And even if we can get beyond this based on years
of actual road
experience of these cars, I doubt that allowing just anyone
to operate an
automated vehicle is in the realm of expectation at least in
this time and
place."
Harrys comments. Not so, because, it will bring independence for
everybody. As you all know, the baby boomers are all turning 60 to 65
these days, and they will be demanding the right to drive, because it
will be taken from them, and the wonderful thing is, everybody will be driven
from place to place by the vehicle, which will not fail.
Mikes comments. "The story Flor posts should serve us as a reminder
that technology, in all
its wonders, still can require human oversight and
intervention upon
occasion.
Eliminating that oversight will not happen
until years, and perhaps
decades, have passed showing that humans are not
necessary in the
equation."
Harrys comments. This will not take decades to do.
I can tell you that NHTSA wants these vehicles on the roads by
2014. Now I don't know if we'll make the 2014 deadline, (and that's fine
if we don't because we don't want these vehicles on the market till they're
perfected. The auto makers and NHTSA are committed to the perfection
standard of complete automation with no human facter!
However, you're already starting to see pieces of it, as I said
earlier.
Mikes comments. "And with our current economic situation, there are
not going to be funds
available for this kind of playing around.
Those days may well be over."
Harrys comments. Well, I don't share that view. I don't care
what things cost. What I mean is, as a prolife person, I believe in
saving lives, not just unborn lives, but yours, myne, and everybodys, from
accidents, etc. So, it doesn't matter the cost. Folks, people are
more important than dollar signs.
Mikes comments. "given the deficit
the President and Congress
have saddled us with.
While Harry seems to dismiss the insurance
comapny issues,"
Harrys comments. I did not dismiss those issues, not at all!
Mikes comments. "I cannot see, in the short-term, them allowing
just anyone to purchase coverage. The
responsibility for operating
the vehicle must remain with the individual."
Harrys comments. That will not be the case with these automated
vehicles.
Mikes comments. "in the driver's seat; and they are hardly going to
insure someone
incapable of instantaneously overriding the automated
systems when things
will go awry."
Harrys comments. They will not go awry. As I said earlier, we
will not release them to the market till they are completely
perfected. I think I've said that a few times now.
Mikes comments. "I see a place for such vehicles potentially; but
that place, at least for
the near term, is not with blind "drivers."
Harrys comments. It is closer than we all think, and we'll live to
see it. Everytime I start talking to people, blind or sighted, about
these vehicles, they ask, "how soon will it be here? I want to buy
one."
Mikes comments. "That may ultimately come, but that is a long way
off."
Harrys comments. Nope, it's not going to be that far off, as I
mentioned above with the requirements of the government plan.
Mikes
comments. "Sorry but that just doesn't seem reasonable to me."
You have a right to your opinion, and your concerns are noted, and valid.
They will be addressed, by people working and testing this technology