The 2011 IIHS crash standards have become even stricter than the 2010 standards (which added roof protection). A 5 star crash test rating in the 2011 Standards makes for a very safe car in a crash. My Fusion is 5 star 2010 and I feel perfectly safe in it. Technology such as airbag seatbelts are next.
The next step is crash prevention technology, which you see in luxury cars presently.
Car safety has come a long way, much of that is due to government mandates. In this case, a little government intervention is a good thing.
Quote: If you really look at cars now, you start to wonder how far off it is that the cars will essentially drive themselves.
I feel the same way. If all cars were hooked up to a GPS type system. They could drive themselves once you tell them where to go. Regulating speeds and all but eliminating congestion would be a real possibility.
Quote: I feel the same way. If all cars were hooked up to a GPS type system. They could drive themselves once you tell them where to go. Regulating speeds and all but eliminating congestion would be a real possibility.
If said this for awhile now ... Cars that drive themselves won't happen until lawyers go away. I think the technolgy to do this is already there ... but the first time a tree falls across a road and an auto-drive car can't stop in time and kills a family ... people are going to start suing the heck out of whoever made the car.
Quote: I feel the same way. If all cars were hooked up to a GPS type system. They could drive themselves once you tell them where to go. Regulating speeds and all but eliminating congestion would be a real possibility.
If said this for awhile now ... Cars that drive themselves won't happen until lawyers go away. I think the technolgy to do this is already there ... but the first time a tree falls across a road and an auto-drive car can't stop in time and kills a family ... people are going to start suing the heck out of whoever made the car.
There would be some things that even the best of systems can't absorb fault for. Act of God there,...
Quote: If you really look at cars now, you start to wonder how far off it is that the cars will essentially drive themselves.
As a guy that rides a motorcycle often, I hope and pray for this. I can't tell you how many times a woman on a cell phone nearly took me out because they weren't paying attention.
Just two weeks ago, some lady merged into my lane, as her lane was ending because of a stopped cab, and almost knocked me over (ok, I was in the city and only going 15 MPH, but still). I rode up to her window at the next light and banged on it...demanding an explanation. She said, "I'm the car, I'm bigger, it's my lane." I can't type what I said to her.
As for the video, scary! And to think, most of us were NEVER in car seats or had seatbelts on. My parents told me I sat inbetween them in the front seat from the day I was born. If they had hit something, I would have been thrown 100 feet through the front windshield. No more Punchsmack.
“...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
Quote: See, as a lawyer, I'd sue whoever put that tree up.
Can you sue God?
I knew a guy who was a "Human Factors Engineer" for a company that was working on the smart highway system. The ability to have cars drive themselves already exists but as has been pointed out, people will screw it up. That was this guys job, to figure out HOW humans would screw it up and account for it. For example, what happens when you have 40 cars cruising down the interstate at 75 all perfectly spaced 20 feet apart.. then somebody panics and hits the breaks or decides they really need to jerk over 2 lanes and get off to go to the bathroom...
I watched a demo video, they had three cars, needed sensors imbedded in the road and the test section was cleared of other traffic, but the system worked. One benefit was uniform speed and short following distance, far more efficient.
However working out problems such as the tree in the road still require a live driver in the seat.
Quote: See, as a lawyer, I'd sue whoever put that tree up.
Can you sue God?
I knew a guy who was a "Human Factors Engineer" for a company that was working on the smart highway system. The ability to have cars drive themselves already exists but as has been pointed out, people will screw it up. That was this guys job, to figure out HOW humans would screw it up and account for it. For example, what happens when you have 40 cars cruising down the interstate at 75 all perfectly spaced 20 feet apart.. then somebody panics and hits the breaks or decides they really need to jerk over 2 lanes and get off to go to the bathroom...
The other problem is the many many people who don't feel they should go the same speed as the rest of traffic, they think everyone should move out of their way because they are special and where they need to be is more important.
King
You may be in the drivers seat but God is holding the map. #GMSTRONG
Wait a minute.. Google is doing it? How can that be, they are a private company... surely the GOVERNMENT must be funding this, like green power and electric cars.... if the government doesn't fund it then we will never get anywhere... what motivation could Google possibly have to fund this research?
Oh yea, if they can make it work, they will make A FORTUNE!!!!!!!
Yeah and we don't need any government mandated test crashes either because private companies care deeply about their customers well being and will always do the right thing regardless of cost.
BTW I'm glad that 59 was a four door and not a coupe or I'd have tears shorting out my keyboard.
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