Self-Driving Cars ... Maybe

I agree the demise of the self-driven vehicle, pilots are already in the midst of such change, is on the horizon. But, men and some women will need to be rewired before it happens. And, "control freaks" will never be comfortable sitting idly by as a passenger. Perhaps being able to program routes will fill that need. I won't be around long enough to see it happen. It's one of the changes I'd love to observe.

I like driving, the feel of my wife's car, how it handles the roads, the controls, things like that. That said there are numerous trips in the van I would happily hand off to an auto pilot.
I can see automated highways coming first. Heck, with the adaptive cruise control and lane departure systems available on some new cars we are half way there already.

When we allow self-driving cars to exist, all humanity will have been lost. I'd rather live in Hitler's Germany or Stalin's USSR than a world that has self-driving cars. It's Un-American to the very core of the idea.

Yup! It's right up there with allowing the Dodgers to move to L.A.

I just bought a vehicle that parks itself. Not the reason why I bought it, but it has that function. I tried it out on the weekend and it drove me crazy. Just couldn't keep my hand off the steering wheel as the computer was turning it back and forth to park. If I am that much of a control freak over parking, I doubt I could ever tolerate a vehicle that drove by itself.

Just give us a network of interstate bullet trains. Then leave those of us who want to control our own destiny's to continue to do so. Win win.

It's Un-American to the very core of the idea.

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Truth.

It's Un-American to the very core of the idea.

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100% agree.
I think ultimately the goal is to eliminate private ownership of vehicles altogether, except for maybe special farming/sporting etc. permits.
.gov ultimately wants you dependent on public transportation, or at least dependent on corporate fleets that are regulated by .gov It's much easier to track and control the population that way.

High speed bullet trains? Please God, not with my taxes. The one in California is eleven years late and currently expected to be $60 billion (yes, you read that right) over its initial budget by the time it's done. If it's ever done.
As for self driving cars and trucks, I personally believe we're decades away from what is technically classified as SAE Level 5, aka "Full Automation". And like the California high speed bullet train, it's far from clear the end will ever be reached. But if it is I suspect it'll be in the 2040s.

I see it as privately owned cars will likely disappear especially in major metropolitan areas. But instead of a Taxi as we know them now you will schedule a driverless "Uber" to come pick you up. Longer trips over the road such as for business will likely be shared among small groups.

Please God, not with my taxes. The one in California is eleven years late and currently expected to be $60 billion (yes, you read that right) over its initial budget by the time it's done.

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That is California. Other states don't tend to run as sloppy as them.

Cost overruns for mass transit projects are endemic, not just in California but all over the world. There are a bunch of reasons but the chief one appears to be (shockingly enough!) that the people supporting them lie about the expected cost. See https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944360208976273#.UfaejLvLgmc

It's Un-American to the very core of the idea.

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100% agree.
I think ultimately the goal is to eliminate private ownership of vehicles altogether, except for maybe special farming/sporting etc. permits.

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+1
The control freaks are the architects of this kind of stuff...and it’s really only the tip of the iceberg. Technology is neutral, but when this kind of stuff becomes mandatory it’s negative, because there’s never any end to control...it just keeps going and going until there will be little to no free-will remaining. All choices will be only a perception of choice...Coke or Pepsi.
There’s always been a tendency toward totalitarian control in human societies, but only now does the technology exist to really begin perfecting it.
Some of the plans include things like having everyone living in 300 sq ft (or less) “smart aPodments” clustered and compressed into mega-city complexes where nearly every detail of daily life is dictated and controlled and enforced by robot police.
And if you think that all sounds far-fetched, it’s all out there in the form of serious proposals (various corporate, government and academic publications) but with a positive spin as if it’s all ultimately wonderful ideas that are fully justified and will lead to some kind of bizarre utopia. And includes even farther out stuff like the genetic alteration of the species to create a more easily controlled humanoid. And any BS excuse will do...like “climate change”.

How Engineering the Human Body Could Combat Climate Change
From drugs to help you avoid eating meat to genetically engineered cat-like eyes to reduce the need for lighting, a wild interview about changes humans could make to themselves to battle climate change.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/how-engineering-the-human-body-could-combat-climate-change/253981/
Solve climate change … make people smaller
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jul/29/improbable-research-make-people-smaller-to-solve-climate-change
Mini-apartments are the next big thing in U.S. cities
Construction will start soon on an experimental New York housing complex in Manhattan with 55 "micro-sized" apartments, from 250 to 370 square feet each. The prefabricated units, which will rent for $914 to $1,873 per month, aim to help alleviate the city's shortage of less-pricey studios and one-bedroom apartments. As more urban dwellers live alone, other U.S. cities are considering similar solutions.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/30/tiny-apartments-apodments-catch-on-us-cities/2580179/

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And just as with the autonomous vehicle stuff, much of it is already being done.
I’m glad I won’t be around long enough to see it all come to fruition. And it will all come to fruition eventually, and God knows what else, because the great majority of sheeple will ultimately acquiesce to all of it.

Totally agree with Brian64, Cosmic and Seacaptain. It's control.
War on Cars
I've taken Urban Planning as part of my degree and can attest to the verity of all that. The tendency is towards intensification, reducing the amount of privately owned vehicles, and boosting public transportation. The excuse? Typical: saving the environment and social justice.

I like driving and sometimes go for a drive just for the pleasure of it. The day that option is removed and I'm forced to travel in a battery operated self-driving monstrosity peddled by that Bond villain Elon Musk will be the day I purchase a tank :D

Dodgers to move to L.A.

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Warren, I take it you're never going to forgive dem bums, huh? }

Warren, I take it you're never going to forgive dem bums, huh? }

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There will always be 1955 to remember.

There’s always been a tendency toward totalitarian control in human societies, but only now does the technology exist to really begin perfecting it.

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Indeed, and another step coming soon is completely cashless economies. We're probably 75% there already in most of the developed world.