On Nov 10, 2017, at 8:22 PM, Alan Bourke <[email protected]> wrote: > > I doubt we'll see widespread adoption of fully autonomous road vehicles > in any of our lifetimes. Even if the tech problems were solved, which > they are far from being despite the hype, I'm still unclear as to what > problem it would solve. Road deaths? I suspect putting the money into > driver education and enforcement would yield better returns. About the > only sensible application I can see is for disabled people.
Think of it as mass transit that is tailored to each person’s needs. Buses and trains are OK, but they only go to certain places at certain times. What if I have an opportunity to work somewhere, but it is a bit far away and I don’t have enough money to own a car. A system of state-owned autonomous cars would mean that I could get a ride to and from work when I need to go, and only pay for that, instead of having to buy an entire car for myself. Or perhaps I’m old and the only market I can walk to is expensive and has a terrible selection. With autonomous cars, I could be driven to a much better market without having to pay for exorbitant taxi fees. Those are just examples I made up just now. Personally, I own a car, but since I work from my home, I rarely need it. Most of the time it sits in the driveway, and is only used when I have to go somewhere. I would much prefer to pull up an app on my phone, get picked up and taken to my destination, and would gladly pay what that would cost. It would be much, much cheaper than having to shell out the huge down payment and significant monthly payments on my car, as well as the several thousand dollars of insurance I pay each year just to have that car available when I need it. Fortunately for me I earn enough to afford such luxury, but not everyone is as fortunate as I am. -- Ed Leafe _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://mail.leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://mail.leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
