The downside of automotive technology

[onlinebiker]

Watch TV and the manufacturers will crow on, about how safe all the " collision avoidance " technology will make their vehicles.

Well.....

Yes and no.


Yes - when it' s new - and under warranty

But - what will happen 10, 20 or even 30 years down the road?

...

My guess? 

Owners will get reliant on such systems doing the job the " meatware" used to do - paying attention. ( in theory)..

And - like all other mechanical or electrical systems - at some point the safety gear will quit working - and neither the car or it' s " driver" will be paying attention - and moving shit will encounter unmoving shit - or moving shit that' s going in a different direction.

Then of course the " driver" who was playing with his dick at the point of impact - will sue the manufacturer, for not making a perfect product.


Lawyers salivate at the prospects.....

[Anomalocaris]

Watch TV and the manufacturers will crow on, about how safe all the " collision avoidance " technology will make their vehicles.

Well.....

Yes and no.


Yes - when it' s new - and under warranty

But - what will happen 10, 20 or even 30 years down the road?

...

My guess? 

Owners will get reliant on such systems doing the job the " meatware" used to do - paying attention. ( in theory)..

And - like all other mechanical or electrical systems - at some point the safety gear will quit working - and neither the car or it' s " driver" will be paying attention - and moving shit will encounter unmoving shit - or moving shit that' s going in a different direction.

Then of course the " driver" who was playing with his dick at the point of impact - will sue the manufacturer, for not making a perfect product.


Lawyers salivate at the prospects.....

There are so many things wrong with progress. Let’s go back to the Stone Age.

[onlinebiker]

Watch TV and the manufacturers will crow on, about how safe all the " collision avoidance " technology will make their vehicles.

Well.....

Yes and no.


Yes - when it' s new - and under warranty

But - what will happen 10, 20 or even 30 years down the road?

...

My guess? 

Owners will get reliant on such systems doing the job the " meatware" used to do - paying attention. ( in theory)..

And - like all other mechanical or electrical systems - at some point the safety gear will quit working - and neither the car or it' s " driver" will be paying attention - and moving shit will encounter unmoving shit - or moving shit that' s going in a different direction.

Then of course the " driver" who was playing with his dick at the point of impact - will sue the manufacturer, for not making a perfect product.


Lawyers salivate at the prospects.....

There are so many things wrong with progress.   Let’s go back to the Stone Age.

Progress???

Becoming reliant on gadgetry isn't progress.

Just look at a pocket calculator.

A handy tool. But - today' s kid can't convert fractions to decimal, and probably can't tell you what the square root of 144 is without a calculator.

Why?

He relies on the gadget to do as job he should know how to do.

You want compliant unskilled drones.

I want thinking people that can DO things.

Like drive.

Edit to add ----

I don't think the tech is bad --- you just made that assumption.

You failed to answer the heart of the question --- what happens as the system ages and quits functioning???? ( guaranteed, it will)

In an ideal world - the system would self test ---- and at ANY hint of an inoperative condition - the vehicle would shut down - and remain inoperative until the fault was corrected.

Unfortunately - today's consumer ( and probably tomorrow's) won't go along with that.

We know what happens now - when an ABS system fails --- they tape over the warning light and keep driving...

[bennyboy]

Damned kids buy flour in a BAG, instead of just grinding it at home like decent folk!~

[ignoramus]

Not looking forward to my Windows 10 operated vehicle crashing!

[Mr.Obvious]

Such a system needn't be perfect, it only has to ride better than THE median driver, to become benefactory.
I'd rather have ten die because of a computer's fault than a hundred because of human fault.

[onlinebiker]

Damned kids buy flour in a BAG, instead of just grinding it at home like decent folk!~

And they think flour is mined like coal.

Pffttt

---

Such a system needn't be perfect, it only has to ride better than THE median driver, to become benefactory.
I'd rather have ten die because of a computer's fault than a hundred because of human fault.

And again --- overlook the point.


These systems work NOW

And they will ( like the drivers) age - then NOT . work. Then you will see the accident rate from things like rear end collisions spike - because users got used to having collision avoidence....

[Homeless Nutter]

Progress???

Becoming reliant on gadgetry isn't progress.

Yes, it is. Cars are "gadgetry". Electricity is "gadgetry". Hypodermics, X-ray machines and life-support systems are "gadgetry". Flushable toilets are "gadgetry". Glasses, false teeth and hearing aids are "gadgetry"... All of that is progress and most of our lives depend on it.

Just look at a pocket calculator.

A handy tool. But - today' s kid can't convert fractions to decimal, and probably can't tell you what the square root of 144 is without a calculator.

Why?

He relies on the gadget to do as job he should know how to do.

Right. Look at a book. A handy tool, but today's kid can't even memorize the entire "Iliad", because the lazy f*cker can just read it anytime he/she pleases....

And let's face it - most kids couldn't tell you what square root of 144 was even before calculators, because kids are stupid. And I'll bet dollars to donuts, that most adults - especially in the US - don't know what a square root is, or how to find it on a calculator...

You want compliant unskilled drones.

I want thinking people that can DO things.

Like drive.

I hate to break it to you, but I don't think all that many people are terribly concerned about what you want. Mind your own business and your own abilities. I can guarantee you, that you're missing many skills, that many people find indispensable, or would have in the not-very-distant past. Can you drive stick? Can you reliably navigate without a compass? How many languages do you speak? How many musical instruments do you play? Can you ride horses? How well can you hunt with a rock tied to a stick? I'm sure technology is all fine and dandy, when you use it to cover up your own "shortcomings".

Edit to add ----

I don't think the tech is bad --- you just made that assumption.

You failed to answer the heart of the question --- what happens as the system ages and quits functioning???? ( guaranteed, it will)

In an ideal world - the system would self test ---- and at ANY hint of an inoperative condition - the vehicle would shut down - and remain inoperative until the fault was corrected.

Unfortunately - today's consumer ( and probably tomorrow's) won't go along with that.

We know what happens now - when an ABS system fails --- they tape over the warning light and keep driving...

And even in the worst scenario - it will still cause fewer accidents, than drugged up apes behind the wheel. There's nothing inherently human about driving. We got rid of horses, we can get rid of all other animals involved in transportation, if that gives us better results - even if some people's sense of self-worth will suffer.

[Yonadav]

I've read some stuff about driverless technology being preferable to driver assisting technology because the driver assisting technology really does make drivers into worse drivers. I'm a big fan of driverless technology because I see serious potential for it to massively reduce the number of cars on the road. When cars drive themselves, why would we bother to own one? Why should a self driving car sit around in my driveway ninety-five percent of the time?

I agree that a lot of technology is causing otherwise-intelligent people to forget how to perform some basic life skills. A young freshly graduated from high school member of my family needed me to coach them through converting .85 to a fraction when taking a state university entrance evaluation test. I was very alarmed by this 'honor roll' student's inability to perform a basic life skill that I thought that almost everyone could easily do in their head. I suspect that reading comprehension taking a serious nose dive too. However, I don't consider driving to be a basic life skill. It's an extravagance. Before cars, most people didn't know how to ride a horse, believe it or not.

[AFTT47]

The systems will likely use multiple layers of redundancy and be programmed to pull over in stop if any one element fails.

This is just a lame attempt to justify the silly argument that people are reduced by having machines do their labor. Instead, it frees them up to do other things.