GM settles w biker over self driving car...Reuters link

[chuck peterson]

There is a lot inside this story...2.2billion invested....33 of 40 crashes were GM Cruise cars but "not the fault of...", quiet settlements....defe nding the vehicle instead of laying blame on the operator could be establishing precedent

I'm telling ya now, the driverless car world will not allow motorcycles. Think boxes w wheels traveling in a cluster at exactly the speed limit or less and congested. Half of them delivery vehicles from Amazon. No room for a smart a$$ teenager on a Hayabuza, or me on a moped...too, ummm, maneuverable shall we say? 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-selfdriving/gm-settles-lawsuit-with-motorcyclist-hit-by-self-driving-car-idUSKCN1IX604

[blackcat]

"Of roughly 40 crashes involving self-driving vehicles reported to California regulators since January 2017, 33 involved GM Cruise vehicles, but none have been declared to be the fault of GM Cruise, California records show."

"As the Cruise was re-centering itself, the motorcyclist that had just lane-split between two vehicles in the center and right lanes moved into the center lane, glanced the side of the Cruise, wobbled, and fell over, the report said. GM said a police report found Nilsson at fault for attempting to overtake and pass the Cruise, but Nilsson’s lawyer said he was not issued a citation in the incident."

[Idontwantapickle]

Regardless of how you might feel about self driving cars the rider of the motorcycle made a poor decision. I have seen this situation unfold countless times on the road. A car moves to an adjacent lane but has to retreat to its original lane to avoid a collision. I saw it happen just last night on the way home from work.
I'm not going to put myself into that situation on a bike. And neither should Oscar Nilsson. I'm sorry that he was hurt, but a lawsuit? Sounds like gold digging in a deep pocket. Ain't that America?
Hunter

[Sheepdog]

We wouldn’t need self-driving cars if folks used public transport. This sort of problem must appear absurd to people in the third world...

[Kiwi_Roy]

It seems like the car saw a gap and decided to fill it, how many times have we been riding and seen the same gap but something told us it's not a good idea?

[Wayne Orwig]

Vehicle manufacturers can't make a turn signal work 100% of the time.
Do we really want them to make a car drive itself?

[Lannis]

Vehicle manufacturers can't make a turn signal work 100% of the time.
Do we really want them to make a car drive itself?

My prediction is that (given the amount of money to be made, and the fact that "self-driving" cars allow people to feed their addictions while on the road) "self-driving cars" will reach a certain level ....

.... after which, due to the driver forgetting whether the system was "on" or "off", the car losing the plot when the lines disappear under new pavement, snow, dirt, etc and the driver not reacting properly, and non-programmed situations causing the car to decide to kill someone, the usage will come back down due to lawsuits and deaths, allowing use only in restricted areas.

Just my prediction.   We'll see!

Lannis

[Idontwantapickle]

My prediction is that (given the amount of money to be made, and the fact that "self-driving" cars allow people to feed their addictions while on the road) "self-driving cars" will reach a certain level ....

.... after which, due to the driver forgetting whether the system was "on" or "off", the car losing the plot when the lines disappear under new pavement, snow, dirt, etc and the driver not reacting properly, and non-programmed situations causing the car to decide to kill someone, the usage will come back down due to lawsuits and deaths, allowing use only in restricted areas.

Just my prediction.   We'll see!

Lannis

You could be right. Although the kids today don't seem to want to drive. Mine don't want to, just another chore. What most of us here once regarded as a privilege and a joy has been taken to the extreme as we all clamored for the dream of having our own car and that has caused it to become a burden. Too much of a good thing? Probably.
I can see commercial vehicles being more or less autonomous on the open road but it's a loooonnnggg way to it being the norm for most vehicles.
Or.....it could be great sport! Buy an old beater F150 and go hunting for self-driving cars. Swerve around them and generally cause them confusion. We better have our fun before the machines wake up! We wont be needed much after that.

[Bonaventure]

People in the developed world like to drive.  Vehicles are sold based on emotional appeal as to their character and capabilities.  I only see self driving cars as being a niche for a very long time.   

[Rough Edge racing]

People in the developed world like to drive.  Vehicles are sold based on emotional appeal as to their character and capabilities.  I only see self driving cars as being a niche for a very long time.  That having been said, there are a lot of career bureaucrats in federal and state government that live for the chance to legislate our freedoms away and protect us from ourselves.  A society where we're carted around like cattle as we stare fixated at some device screen may come to pass after all.  Hopefully I'm dead by then.

 Yes, in before Dusty locks this thread... 

[oldbike54]

 <sigh>

 Geez fellas , let's do avoid the politics of this .

 Here is the deal , what future generations do about all of this is their business , if they choose self driving cars it isn't any concern of ours . Kinda funny , we are starting to sound like the old folks in 1965 who claimed R&R would cause the end of civilization , or going back a bit further there were people claiming automobiles would lead to nothing but death and destruction . Relax , what happens will happen whether us old people agree with it or not .

 Dusty

[blackcat]

If self driving cars/trucks can save us from the current and future "drivers" on our very packed roads. I may not be alive when this is the norm, but I believe it will happen and I don't view that as a bad thing.

[malik]

These are merely a stop-gap measure until matter transfer turns up. A passing fad (sic).