Quote:
Originally Posted by Oberon
One possible solution would be to make the car and its occupants better able to withstand the possibility of a collision with a solid object, then the car would automatically serve off the road with the knowledge that even if it goes into a wall it won't kill the people inside it.
Quite how that happens is less simple, restraints can help and hinder equally, air bags are a possibility but if they deploy at the wrong time they can be problematic.
It's all a matter of Inertia and Mass.
Thanks Newton...  |
The notion of restraints is fine only insofar as they are actually used. How many times have you seen news reports where someone is killed because they weren't wearing legally required seat belt restraints and thrown out of a car in an accident? One big problem is the fact a driverless car will just make it possible for the occupants to engage in other activities which may induce them to remove the restraints. We've all seen people putting on make up, shaving, reading, and any other number highly questionable activities while behind the wheel. A driverless car would be little more than a smaller personal bus and the occupants, including the nominal driver, would most likely be involved in activities occupying their attention other than management of the vehicle. It is an age-old problem: technology and progress is very often undone by human nature and human folly...
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