Computerized control of autos will start with safety features, such as crash-avoidance systems coming out today. We are not that far away from cars and trucks capable of complete computer-control. Whether the concept presented in the article, renting a computer-controlled car or light truck for per-trip use from one's cell phone can over-take the simple ownership of today, remains to be seen. I suspect people of more than simple means and those in rural areas will continue to own their vehicles.
The concept of getting a car for temporary (per-trip) use would seem to only work in a city and its nearby suburbs. So any laws preventing or restricting human-controlled driving would have to take that into account, especially if some must own those cars or trucks. Thank you, Mark Snyder -----Original Message----- >I don't understand why you would then throw the driver into prison for >leaving the highway. Human control of a vehicle has proven to be extremely dangerous. It has killed more people than all wars put together. We want this dangerous weapon of mass destruction under reliable control as soon as possible. There is no reason why the computer can't guide the car to its final destination and park it. GPS boxes are already ordering the human driver around. Some cares already parallel park under computer control. With this new technology will there really be a need for personally-owned vehicles? Would it not be better to just call for a vehicle of the type needed for each trip and have it come get you? If you needed a van or a truck you would get one. A family trip would get a family-size vehicle. If you only needed to transport a single person you would call for a small, economical personal transporter. During rush-hour a group transporter would make several stops along an efficient computer-planned route. So overall we would need fewer vehicles and the distribution of vehicle sizes would probably skew towards the personal transporter and very few SUVs. ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
