General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWith driverless cars due in 2018 will there be a new Luddite movement???
At its peak, more British soldiers were fighting the Luddites than were fighting Napoleon.
I wonder with the hugh anti science mood of the country being pandered to by GOP be the beginning of a very violent Luddite movement.
Could the anti driverless cars violent Luddite close down the interstate.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)and it won't be the driverless cars that put them over the edge...
It will be the solar toasters, it always starts with the toasters
FSogol
(45,355 posts)Your orders are to create MORE tasty pale ales for me to sample.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)Anti-vaxers, anti-GMOers, alt-med pushers, and the like, all fall into that category.
librechik
(30,663 posts)no more drunk, angry, or comatose divers!
GoCubsGo
(32,061 posts)At least half of the people in my town have no business behind the wheel of a car or truck. Driving here is absolutely terrifying. And, now that gas prices are low, all the bubbas have purchased huge, two-ton-plus, super-crew-cab pick-up trucks, which most are incapable of properly handling. I come close to getting creamed by one of these assholes on a daily basis, often multiple times in a one or two mile stretch.
thucythucy
(7,983 posts)who CAN'T use driver-controlled vehicles except as passengers.
I for one would prefer a hugely better mass transit system, such as exists in western Europe, but if it takes driverless cars to get me and my disabled friends on the road, so be it! Let's hope too they're electric, non-polluting cars as well.
Want to know what brings out the Luddite in me? Leaf blowers. Wish we could blow them all to Hell!
GoCubsGo
(32,061 posts)Take the woman who lives across the street from me. She's in her late 70s, at least. She has no business operating a vehicle. To make matters worse, she drives while talking on the cell phone. I had the misfortune of getting behind her a couple of weeks ago. While driving through the neighborhood, she just stopped to converse on her phone. Without pulling over. Fortunately, I was far enough behind her that I didn't rear-end her. (Exhibit A for keeping that "space cushion" from the car in front of you, folks.) There are lots more like her around here, and not all of them are elderly. Driverless cars would be great for those who have passed the age where they can safely operate a vehicle. They can keep their freedom without being a danger to everyone else on the road. Or, not have to rely on others to chauffeur them around.
I generally share your dislike for leaf blowers. However, I have some water oaks in my yard. They have smallish, narrow leaves that don't rake up well. The only way you can get them of the grass is to blow them out.
Throd
(7,208 posts)I actually find driving to be quite pleasurable.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Here's a leaked photo of an early test of one of these:
whatthehey
(3,660 posts)I predict we will have lots of truck and delivery and taxi drivers engaging in aggressive traffic-disruption.
Which will predictably hasten the adoption of the technology they will wish to resist. But it will be a frustrating few years for those who depend on high traffic roads regardless of whether they drive or the iCar does.
hunter
(38,263 posts)I was hoping the automobile age would be over buy now.
Automobiles have been the most environmentally destructive and dangerous inventions of all time.
If we were a rational scientific people personal automobiles would have been outlawed long ago.
CK_John
(10,005 posts)for others. That is a lot of $ clout in our current system.
hunter
(38,263 posts)... and everyone is going to feel the pain of climate change, if they are not feeling it already.
CK_John
(10,005 posts)thucythucy
(7,983 posts)hunter
(38,263 posts)... and get around by calling up self-driving cars from their smart phones will have little patience with older drivers and their cars.
Eventually private ownership of automobiles will become too onerous and too expensive for most people.
Those who get along fine without owning a car will point and laugh at people who can't find a parking place.
former9thward
(31,798 posts)hunter
(38,263 posts)Sort of like Disneyland, or Venice Italy. Maybe you have a huge parking structure outside the city, or maybe visitors to the city are expected to arrive by train or a bus.
http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/tronchetto_parking_garage.htm
The only cars on the street are very quiet and very polite self driving cars that don't need parking places in the city.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)It was like the Amish bumper sticker: Warning, do not step in exhaust!
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,079 posts)CK_John
(10,005 posts)at a standstill. This election will determine who will handle these problems.
former9thward
(31,798 posts)Then why have Clinton and Sanders ignored this issue? Seems like the transportation system "at a standstill" is pretty important.
The2ndWheel
(7,947 posts)I'd guess more people than not have Luddite tendencies. Don't you talk about driverless trucks all the time, and what people are going to do for jobs? Well, that's more Luddite than not. Anyone not wanting their job to go overseas, more Luddite than not. Anyone not wanting wages to go down, more Luddite than not.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Egnever
(21,506 posts)Many people just don't do change well.
RobinA
(9,874 posts)What's the point? I get in my car to go to work. If my car drives to work without me, I haven't gotten to work.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)as many people here in $iliValley do while riding transit.
Another point is that I could finally get in my car to go to work and tell VTA to shove it.
CK_John
(10,005 posts)Mendocino
(7,430 posts)of self driving autos then they are a GOP sympathizer and potentially violent?
Xolodno
(6,330 posts)Blacksmith to Car owner: "Get a horse!"
There will be people resisting it, I've already heard plenty, such as:
"But I like having control of the car"
"I don't trust the technology"
"Its a <insert nut job conspiracy> to <insert whacked reason>"
Reality is, insurance companies already acknowledge that auto insurance will be a minor line item in the future.
sendero
(28,552 posts)... in a new technology is a Luddite?
Whatever, "dude".
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)You mean people are going to wander out onto the interstate to protest driverless cars? Why?
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,536 posts)by people who figure out how to cause "accidents" with the driverless cars. It's already a big industry in L.A., with drivers, passengers, lawyers and doctors working together.
Crash2Parties
(6,017 posts)Their protests were certainly not based on ignorance or fear of the machinery itself.
I find it interesting that Google et all have successfully caged this as a "driverless car" issue when the real money will be in replacing cargo truck drivers, bus drivers, fed ex & ups drivers and so on. The corporations that hire large numbers of well paid drivers will be the early adopters of the technology and that's a lot of jobs. I'm guessing that not a large percent of those drivers will become robotic car "builders and mechanics" with just a bit of schooling (the common refrain/rebuttal); they'd likely already be in such positions if they had the aptitude.