Self-Driving Trucks: And So It Begins...

My thinking is this.

if companies will be sued into oblivion why are they expanding and putting more trucks on the roads?

Today’s Pickup: Daimler Trucks, Torc Robotics to expand autonomous driving testing - FreightWaves



that’s the thing I don’t get. Why expand and continue research if you will get sued into oblivion?

I’m thinking something’s up and in the pipeline that will be passed by Congress to limit lawsuits on driverless trucks.

 

Autonomous vehicles still need a driver to take over in case something goes wrong, but people can't even pay attention when they have complete control of vehicle so thinking they will be ready to take over when a vehicle drives itself is just plain stupid. Cars are one thing, but an out of control semi is basically a wrecking ball that weighs up to 80,000lb (most US semis) and can take out a building. Distracted driving will grow with the number of autonomous vehicles. Not to mention the lack of actually having to do anything will cause boredom and fatigue resulting in lack of ability to quickly respond.

A human driver can react to events better then a computer can. If something happens right in front of the truck, what will the computer do? Just lock the brakes possibly causing loss of control and a far more serious accident? A human can move to the shoulder or take an off ramp if available and stop safely.

What about weather, hills, and traffic? An computer wont know what wind speed is safe to travel in based on load weight and how would it know where to park if things started to get too bad? Same with dealing with gusts, a human can see trees, etc that block wind and prepare for changes in crosswind. Ice and hills pose similar issues. What about rain and road grim obscuring cameras and sensors? Will the truck stop every few miles to force the driver to clean the sensors? Driving on a wet salty road after a snowstorm can have you using a gallon of windshield washer fluid per an hour due to the constant salt spray obscuring your windshield.

How about following distance? What will an autonomous truck do in rush hour traffic in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, or any other major city, or on any highway when there is a traffic backup due to construction/accident? If it tries to keep a safe following distance then it will end up stopped and stuck in the middle of the highway because cars will pull into any gap big enough for them to fit.

Companies are in the business to make money. People have already demonstrated they can mess with autonomous vehicles by putting stickers on signs or painting lines on a street. What will happen when one of these trucks gets directed into oncoming traffic or worse a building or school yard? Lawsuits will fly, the public will become scared, citizens will refuse to give business to companys using automated trucks so clients will leave, the company's stock will drop. Could cause the company to go out of business if they couldn't recover. It would be a major risk for a company to start using them before they are literally flawless. Truck can't even use GPS to detect road speed limits as they are only as accurate when changes are reported and made and there are still many roads where a GPS doesn't know a speed limit for it.

Most companies wont be able to afford to replace their fleets with autonomous trucks, and no company could do it all at once. Current new trucks cost over $150k and with it being new technology, you can expect autonomous trucks to cost well over that. Even the megas wouldn't be able or willing to replace their fleet in under 20 years. Especially since it would mean loosing money on current equipment. Then if something goes wrong like in the previous paragraph, they are out the money from buying them.

Then you have other traffic to deal with and we all know how cars drive around semis.
There are only 2 ways autonomous vehicles could work effectively:
1. People started to use more commen sense and consideration. This is very unlikely, the population is basically just becoming dumber
2. Or if a vast majority of vehicles on the road were autonomous. But a vast majority of the population will probably never be able to afford them until they become as cheap as a current used car. In 2019, the average age of a car/suv/etc registered in the US was 12 years old, most people don't replace their vehicle if it still works and can't even afford to replace it with anything but another cheap old used vehicle.

 

Absolutely. US Congress is up to the highest bidder. Hell, the entire fed gummint is, since Citizens United.

The wealthy autonomous vehicle companies aren't putting all that money into R&D for no return.

The laws are already drafted by Tesla, et al. The lawmakers are already bought and paid for.

We'll all be obsolete a hell of a lot sooner than most people believe.

 

I’ll make a killing stealing from those trucks when they become completely driverless.

 

I am sure they will be hacked and rerouted with other peoples freight! Or whoops they delivered to the wrong warehouse!!

 

There well be no lawsuits because the government is 100% behind this. They will protect the technology builders to make this happen.
We keep talking about the what if’s and the what will happens in traffic and weather situations but what we all are not realizing is that WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OPERATE A NON ROBOT VEHICLE of any kind on the roads ever again. Period. They will outlaw them. They will not allow you to register and plate or insure one anymore in the name of safety. Everything on the road will be a robot communicating and getting along with one another and following the traffic laws perfectly in perfect time like the russian army or the nazis as they marched.
Trucking companies will be able to afford them because that is all they will be able to buy. Just like it is in Comiefornia now you can only buy their certified stuff. Same with cars. All you will have in choices is which one you wanna ride in not which one you wanna drive.

 

Read my lips if you like your truck you can keep your truck we will not be forcing you to do this!

 

They are working on changing the mindset of the public as we speak. They are getting the younger generation to be riders and not drivers. Look at all the car commercials on tv. Its all about Having a party and not having to pay attention to your driving. Let the car do it for you because the car has the info center in dash, all your distraction accessories, driver assist, auto parking, auto stopping, stay in lane steering assist, and now some stupid invisible trailer feature on the rear camera on the pickup trucks. (Use that excuse “I didnt know i had a trailer back there cause i didnt see it in my info center”)
Once they get the youngsters brainwashed on this its gonna roll like Katrina through New Orleans.

 

Are you suggesting that the millenial snowflakes are leaning towards being lazy and mindless... and wanting free stuff?

Not all, but certainly most.

 

Can’t wait till they figure out it’s not free!