Think of it like a dunce cap, but for a car.
I live in central TX and they are running the driverless vehicles at night. These vehicles can be just as bad as the regular drivers.
Nearly struck twice while walking my dog. Fuck these things.
I mean, how many industry experts need to say, “we are not at a place with the tech that driverless cars are safe?” Because, from my recollection, plenty have.
And their main point is spot on. All of this money being sunk into this particular money race when we need to be phasing our cars in a hurry. Why are we putting more cars on the road? Traffic doesn’t need it, but the fucking PLANET really doesn’t need it.
Being the US, though, we all bow down before the mighty capitalist venture and dare not stand in the way of someone making money. No matter the cost for the rest of us. Figuratively and literally.
Iirc, most of the driverless tech is being dumped into EVs. Manufacturing pollution aside, converting more OTR vehicles to EV and diverging from ICE vehicles is the current path forward until newer technology provides other options in terms of tackling pollution. Additionally, once the driverless tech develops, hopefully traffic congestion will alleviate by removing the human element.
What we really need are trains/subways
Nah, fuck trains.
You need trams.
Cross country, high speed bullet trams from coast to coast.
Trams would be good too
That’s the capitalist, market-friendly answer. The planet friendly answer is public transit. It’s been proven over and over again. Instead we’re trying to figure out how to charge electric cars faster for longer trips. It’s all with the express purpose of greenwashing the issue while maintaining a capitalist friendly personal vehicle infrastructure. It’s insanity.
Almost struck in a crosswalk with a walk signal?
It’s usually at 4 way stops.
I don’t think I have seen a self driving car take a right on red at signaled intersections.
How anyone could consider it a good idea to test the prototypes of these services on public roads is unfathomable to me.
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Self-driving cars are the future. At least one use-case that is hard to argue with is the increased mobility of the elderly, the blind, etc.
Some company is going to profit from it, and it doesn’t seem like the cars are a particular menace when I’ve seen the driving around SF.
Some company is going to profit from it
And this is the entire point. These are somehow the only terms in which we can have this discussion in the US. “Who are we to stand in the way of a company’s quest for profit?” We are the fucking human beings that the system is supposed to serve. It’s not the other way around.
We are facing literal climate doom. And here we are finding new ways to put more fucking cars on the road. Nah. Close corporate tax loopholes and make these bloodsucking companies put their money toward the public good for tax breaks. Or how about we close the tax loopholes, crack down on the massive offshoring of wealth in this country, make these companies act in the best interest of the public and say “fuck your profits?” They’ve had it plenty good for plenty long. And here we are, literally dying of heat in a late capitalist hellscape, bending over backwards to excuse any act that seeks profit for megacorps by saying, “well, they’re trying to keep traffic deaths down” (no. They’re trying to corner an emerging market.), and discussing how we can be fair to companies trying to expand profits.
Fuck this entirely backward-ass, brainwashed thinking.
Or maybe we put traffic cones on their cars.
