Will autonomy erode our ability to ‘beat’ the other guy?

"DCCARGEEK" (dccargeek)
11/25/2013 at 16:43 • Filed to: None

On my way to work this morning a woman in a Pontiac G6 cut me off, beating me to the already-red light and managed to set off my Jeep's rather frightening BRAKE-BRAKE-BRAKE alarm. After contemplating if Launch Control would give me enough squat to plant my front wheels on the trunk of her government-issued G6, I had an interesting thought: how will our tenacity to get ahead of the other guy sit with the programmed rules of self-driving cars?

Our personalities, like our driving behaviors, are uniquely our own. Self-driving cars will prevent costly and deadly crashes, but that comes at a cost - our motoring self-expression. I'm not talking about what we drive, but rather how we drive.

As humans we make incredibly stupid mistakes like racing to a yellow light or darting between cars on the highway to make an exit. We voluntarily make bad decisions.

Too many of the self-driving naysayers say that people are afraid to give up control to a machine, but that notion is misguided. We humans don't fear robots, we fear losing the ability to make stupid, self-serving decisions while behind the wheel.

If we placed the same woman in the G6 in a self-driving vehicle she has to make a choice: take her hands off the wheel and do something else (read, text, makeup, etc) or grab the wheel and continue driving like a maniac hoping she gets ahead of the next person.

Some drivers prefer to stay in the right lane and do the posted limit while others need to do 15-over in the passing lane. A handful of motorists want to meander in-and-out of traffic in a dangerous game of automotive Frogger, while others are content sailing along in the same lane for the duration of their journey.

These are all unique choices made by each human driver, bad or good, we make them.

This lead me to the title of this post, will autonomy erode our ability to ‘beat’ the other guy? Are drivers willing to give up the ability to be first at the red light or to jump in the faster line of traffic just to read text messages or shave or whatever it is other people do while the rest of us are actually driving?

Automakers, safety advocates, even Congress want to joyously welcome in the era of the self-driving car, but we're all ignorant to think people are going to be satisfied cruising along like obedient ducks down the highway reading text messages. The self-driving car will demand a behavioral evolution in how we drive and more importantly when we 'drive.'

If every time G6 girl gets the urge to get ahead (read: make stupid decision) she takes the wheel, the benefits of self-driving are lost and we're back to being the careless, dangerous, self-serving humans that we are today.

DISCUSSION (19)

GhostZ > DCCARGEEK
11/25/2013 at 16:53

Autonomy allows us to pin crimes on those who make stupid decisions. It flattens everyone down so that those that defy stand taller and are easier to pick out.

In today's world, if someone is driving like an idiot, but not breaking any laws, they are an inconvenience that slows the whole system down, and may cause others to end up in harmful wrecks as a result.

However, in a world of autonomous cars, taking the wheel and being an idiot removes all deniability from the accident. It (should be) stored in the car's telemetry: you took the wheel and did something stupid right before the accident, the other driver left their car in auto mode. This means that the whole system is 'wound up tighter', so there are lower tolerances for damage (and worse results when they do happen) but it makes it painfully obvious which drivers don't know how to be safe when the tolerances close, and they're still stuck in wrecks.

DCCARGEEK > GhostZ
11/25/2013 at 16:58

Some cars today can already tell police and/or your insurance company if you've done something stupid. I wanted to focus a bit less on the technology and more on how self-driving cars will be a fundamental behavioral change in how exercise patience on the road. Sure, when all cars are self-driving there won’t be traffic, cars will go 120MPH and the world will be perfect. Until such time, self-driving cars are going to dance with normal idiots and behavioral urges, such as making an unnecessary pass, are going to creep into the cabin of people who purchased self-driving cars.

GhostZ > DCCARGEEK
11/25/2013 at 17:04

Technology will influence policy, which influences behavior, that's basically what I was saying. When that type of deniability is removed, I see a future where someone who takes command of their car is disapproved of and possibly feared. Pontiac G6 girl doesn't want that, she doesn't want her friends thinking she's crazy, unusual, or different.

It's very different from a Manual transmission. No one thinks you're being dangerous with a manual. At the most they will think you are ignorant of existing technology, but not dangerous.

Consider guns. There are many communities that consider gun ownership, even if you are a perfectly reasonable individual, to be a warning sign in and of itself. Because it has the potential to cause great harm, owning one forces you to accept a social stigma. If Pontiac C6 girl does take command on occasion, it will be with shame, fear, and regret if her friends found out. Much like how drunk driving is explained.

I would love a world where you could apply to a very strict license test to be able to drive a car without computer aid, that would balance it out and make only those who are taking command illegally the subject of stigma. Those who have gone the lengths and training to be able to do it legally would be considered experts on vehicle locomotion.

B1n > DCCARGEEK
11/26/2013 at 21:19

In the future, your car will drive you to the track, and then, and only then, will it let you operate its controls.

Even then, it will watch what you do, and override your inputs if it deems your actions are outside its acceptable tolerances. The car will sustain itself first, and in doing so, will protect its occupant(s).

In coordination, and in consultation, with your insurance carrier, your car will decide what you are allowed to do moment-to-moment.

I can't understand why car-provisioned GPS surveys, and real-time data links, haven't sufficiently mapped and characterized all of the First World's roads and traffic conditions to the point that automatic cars are a reality today. Just put trackers on every animal over 10 kg, and never have a consequential accident again.

In the future, Motorcycles may be relegated to outlaw gangs, vis-à-vis Mad Max.

94GTratracer > GhostZ
11/26/2013 at 21:41

And those experts will be pre-teens driving immaculately restored Lotuses. http://www.animetycoon.net/anime/ex-drive…

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > DCCARGEEK
11/26/2013 at 22:11

I used to be a little more aggressive in traffic before I started taking my colleagues along for my commutes, now I'm far more relaxed. No point in trying to rush ahead 1 or 2 cars just to be stuck behind the bus that's blocking everybody, amirite?

brass1223 > DCCARGEEK
11/26/2013 at 22:32

idk how you guys feel about self-driving cars, but i for one, welcome it with open arms! do you see the morons these days behind the wheel? just today at work, i was in front of my building making a quick personal call. a car traveling on the far right hand lane (two on each side) decided to stop traffic so that she can make the u-turn. FROM THE FUCKIN RIGHT HAND LANE. to make matters worse, she's getting flipped off, honked on, yelled at, and this bitch had the audacity to flip these people off. at this point, she's completely stopped traffic (on her side). instead of being thankful that she didn't hurt anybody with her retarded decision, as she's turning, she rolls down her window to flip off everybody else. you know, just in case they didn't see it the first time. wanna take a guess at her race???

i see shit like this everyday in california. i can't wait for self drive cars so that my life isn't in the hands of these absolute retards.

Startle a Thompsons Gazelle Ltd. > DCCARGEEK
11/26/2013 at 22:58

Ponder the following: When autonomous cars become common-place, will they all be equal, or will some be more equal than others? Will there be alpha-cars that always get to the head of the line because of some bit of software that 'bullies' other more 'submissive' cars?

Scenario #1: A Mercedes S-Class and a Toyota Corolla approach an on-ramp. Based on proximity alone the Toyota should go first, however the Mercedes has more power, quicker throttle response, better braking and handling, etc. Could the Mercedes' computer be programmed to exert 'authority' over that of the Toyota and beat it to the ramp?

Scenario #2: Two cars are approaching an intersection, with one due to turn left and the other right. Would their computers work together to allow the right-turning car to take the lead to ease the flow of traffic?

Scenario #3 - Would the autonomous computer system in a FedEx delivery van be allowed to 'assert' its priority over other traffic say between the hours of 7:30 and 10:30 am, when making overnight deliveries and revert to a 'normal' mode during the rest of the day when deliveries and pick-ups are not so time critical? FedEx and UPS have deep pockets and considerable influence in Washington, so this could easily become reality IMO.

DCCARGEEK > Startle a Thompsons Gazelle Ltd.
11/27/2013 at 05:28

These are very valid and thoughtful observations that raise even more questions. If the rules are equal across the board, and not like you described in scenario one, then I think people will continue to drive even while in a self-driving car.

Same reason pilots take the stick in a dogfight. Every commute is a dogfight and until we change that mentality, self-driving can't truly work. This is why I've long held the focus should be on crash avoidance rather than autonomy.

uberbigpete > DCCARGEEK
11/27/2013 at 08:16

I don't think we'll need to worry about this for another 25 years.

Self driving cars will not be a reality until they can deal with the extreme variability of other human drivers.

We would all have to be driving autonomous cars at once, unless the computer controlled cars are so intelligent or have absurdly good situational judgement to deal with the craziness of the average driver.

For the next 25 years or more, we will have passive safety systems, until we have a majority of autonomous cars on the road.

skippytheduck2 > DCCARGEEK
11/27/2013 at 09:25

Some drivers prefer to stay in the right lane and do the posted limit while others need to do 15-over in the passing lane...

Dude, where to you live? Where I am the problem is that the folks doing the posted limit (or below) want to weld themselves in the passing lane cause "I'm going as fast as (I can/the speed limit/ I think is safe/God says I should) and ain't nobody got no reason to go faster."

DCCARGEEK > uberbigpete
11/27/2013 at 10:45

25 years? Nissan announced and testified before Congress last week that they will have self-driving cars on the market by 2020.

DCCARGEEK > uberbigpete
11/27/2013 at 11:06

Also, passive safety are seat-belts and the like. Auto braking is an active safety, meaning

The Jevans > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
11/27/2013 at 12:13

That depends. Will you be able to pass the bus eventually?

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > The Jevans
11/27/2013 at 12:15

Maybe, maybe not. Here in Brazil lanes are so narrow they are more a suggestion than an actual rule, specially for larger vehicles like buses and trucks, so that bus is actually taking up two lanes, and there will be cars illegally parked on the other.

The Jevans > brass1223
11/27/2013 at 12:16

The whole time I pictured a white, blonde, early-40's, looks-like-she's-28, entitled woman. I'd still bang her, though.

The Jevans > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
11/27/2013 at 12:18

Gotcha. I'm a little more spoiled with my road conditions, so passing is much more justified.

McMike > DCCARGEEK
02/12/2018 at 14:07

Hi Juan!

DCCARGEEK > McMike
03/05/2018 at 16:47

McMike! It’s been a minute. Hope all is well. Cheers and Happy Motoring, Boss.