Will Self-Driving Trucks Replace Us?

Doubt it. Let just wait till a school bus stop with flashing lights and a truck plow right into it.

 

Trucks have been and will continue to evolve with safety and automated features. I think the trucking industry will follow the airline industry. Today's aircraft can fly themselves, however there is a skilled pilot aboard.
Will these vehicles develop to eliminate the driver? Probably, but not in our time and put us out of business.

 

I don't think the public will stand for it. At least not for a few more generations.

They may want their self driving cars so they can be lazy and play their Facebook games on the way to work but they aren't going to want to be surrounded by those big dangerous trucks driving themselves.

 

The self-driving cars are already crashing into things...and people!

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/auto-braki...g-cars-cant-save-us-our-own-stupidity-1503317

Getting back to the article you posted, though, it won't be pretty if/when these vehicles become common. Drivers have a hard enough time paying attention when they have control of the vehicle...so what happens when they are free to NOT pay attention? They won't. So what happens next?

The "driver" hasn't been maintaining anything that could even REMOTELY be considered situational awareness and all of a sudden the car notifies the driver that the car is in over its head and is giving control back to the driver. Now, the driver has to figure out what is going on, figure out what can be done, make a decision, and execute the decision...all the while traveling beyond the capabilities of the computer that HAD been operating the car. Then, when the crash occurs and people die, the vehicle manufacturer and software designers push the blame onto the driver. Sorry, if I'm in the vehicle, I'm going to be driving it...NOT a computer.

 

Trains run on tracks and they still have an operator. Maybe on an interstate you could put it on autopilot, but you would still need someone behind the wheel.

 

They will eventually have some form of driverless truck,.. most likely on specifically set routes with specific lanes designed to run in.

How ever,.. its my personal opinion,.. truly driverless trucks from point A - B will not be seen in my lifetime.

Hurst

 

It does look like they'll need tracks like a locomotive, a subway train, a commuter rail and the like for efficiency. City driving, backing and tight maneuvers would need a human behind the wheel.. It'll be awhile if it happens at all. I wonder if one day most freight will be moved by rail to a DC and moved by box trucks and golf carts to wherever it has to go

 

Note to self: create a forum, solely for self driving trucks.

 

I can see it.. a sensor goes bad, the buzzer doesn't sound off, the computer wont allow the driver to take over, its the drivers fault, do a recall on malfunctioning parts and chalk it up as a beta version of trial and error..

Am I being negative ?