Google's driverless cars make progress

[Becky]

It looks like the technology behind Google's fleet of driverless cars is getting better and better, requiring fewer human interventions in 2016 compared with the previous year.

"Disengagements are a natural part of the testing process that allow our engineers to expand the software' s capabilities and identify areas of improvement," Waymo said in its report.
The most common reasons for interventions in Waymo cars were "software discrepancies, unwanted manoeuvres of the vehicle and perception discrepancies", according to the company.
Of the 124 incidents, only 10 were caused by the "reckless" behaviour of another road user.

Read more at BBC News.

 

[Abarbarian]

"Of the 124 incidents, only 10 were caused by the "reckless" behaviour of another road user."

112 accidents caused by driverless cars then, not too bad I guess. Hopefully not ever a reality on my watch.

 

[nivrip]

Not sure they will ever be a countrywide phenomenon. They will be super cautious, drive at 25mph and the traffic will grind to a halt.

 

[Becky]

traffic will grind to a halt.

Au contraire mon cher...

 

[muckshifter]

stop humans driving cars, not monkeys, or, ban all cars ... no need for intersections or traffic lights.

 

[Urmas]

 

[Abarbarian]

Not sure they will ever be a countrywide phenomenon. They will be super cautious, drive at 25mph and the traffic will grind to a halt.

Around two-thirds of crashes in which people are killed or injured occur on roads with a speed limit of 30 mph or less. At 30 mph vehicles are travelling at 44 feet (about 3 car lengths) each second. One blink and the driver may fail to see the early warning brake lights; a short glance away and the movement of a child behind a parked car will be missed. Even in good conditions, the difference in stopping distance between 30 mph and 35 mph is an extra 21 feet, more than 2 car lengths.

http://www.rospa.com/road-safety/advice/drivers/speed/inappropriate/