Dave Cutter

Driverless beer truck makes regular runs. The first autonomous beer run. This is the beginning of the end... for human driven vehicles.

genec

Actually, ONE test run, of 120 miles.
https://www.foxnews.com/auto/2016/10/...-beer-run.html

jefnvk

Meh, really no different than what Google cars have been doing for years.

FullGas

given how poorly most people drive, that's not a bad thing.

StanSeven

Yea, but this is different! This is beer delivered!

lubes17319

But is was Budweiser.
;puke:

jefnvk

(to lubes)

Wouldn't have shed a tear if the whole thing crashed and burned and the whole load was destroyed!

I-Like-To-Bike

Do you miss Detroit's very own Fire Brewed Beer?

Darth Lefty 

Now I'll have no excuse for showing up to work sober

jefnvk

I wasn't old enough to have the Detroit fire brewed variety, but if I am drinking cheap beer, I still prefer Strohs!

Of course, the new stuff brewed in Detroit is pretty good too:

Leisesturm

A little overstated, don't you think? Most people don't really drive that badly. Certainly not all the time. Good thing because we are still going to be driving for ourselves for a few more years yet.

Dave Cutter

Exactly! Had this been a shipment of frozen peas, 2X4 lumber, or toilet paper... we may never even heard about it. There is something poetic about sending an autonomous truck... on a beer run.

But the dealerships are already loaded with driver assisted cars (special warning and braking electronics) . And every car/truck sold will be rear camera/backup warning equipped (I believe) in 2020. The technology is pretty solid. And this is a technology that could actually pay for itself pretty quickly. Not only is the transport company not hiring a driver..... if accidents plummet (and they should) insurance cost for computerized drivers could be far less.

We may even find that in just a handful of years.... the only way we can insure a teenage driver... might be if the car drives itself. (paradoxical humor )

Of course.... this brings up the question as to what are all the [previously] truck drivers going to do. But that is a question for the P&R threads.

Dave Cutter

Yeah.... In 2010, there were an estimated 5,419,000 crashes, killing 32,999 and injuring 2,239,000. Funny how... jumping in the car and driving to go somewhere.... just doesn't seem that hazardous.

My own belief system... sort of prevents me from thinking those lives loss can be saved. They can only be prolonged.

But think of the savings. Even just 5 million fender benders... and 2 million trips to the hospital. Besides safer roads... car insurance could become much cheaper. Not to mention... I hate injured trips to the hospital!

Milton Keynes

This is great news for the next time someone needs to go on a beer run but nobody's sober enough to drive.

Leisesturm

I wish you were wrong and we actually could discuss the fates, not just of truck drivers, but Greyhound, Uber, Lyft and other services. I've noticed that the automated checkout kiosks at the supermarket don't actually eliminate checkers, they actually function so that one checker can do the work of six. Nor is a six station kiosk at $200k not including service contract, is all that much of a savings on human checkers. But there is something about being able to stick it to working stiffs that has a certain appeal for the ruling classes. A human truck driver needs sleep every 72 hours. Advantage truck. A human truck driver can get directions from the homeless guy panhandling at the freeway exit. Advantage human. Zero sum...

Dave Cutter

Many people think I generally am.

Well with 5 million less car accidents... what about car body-shop repair people. Or car paint makers. And hospital emergency rooms. People who work at insurance offices that settle insurance claims. Then again.... on 2nd thought... most jobs that people did 100 or so years ago... no longer exist.

What we do for a living.. and where we do it at... has more to do with the safety we can enjoy on a bike as about anything else. And as the "robotic cars" will be much better at avoiding cyclist... riding and walking will be safer too.

canklecat

With improvements in AI, eventually autonomous machines will be able to ask humans for directions and understand. There are bound to be occasions when a road is unexpectedly blocked temporarily and the vehicle needs an alternate route. Google doesn't update its street view very often, and real time satellite recon for simple directions may not be cost effective.

And that's when we direct the AT-ATs into the harpoon traps cleverly set by the rebel fleet.

aRoudy1

Is this thread related to One way to get flattened

drlogik 

Now if that truck was more of a local traveling vending machine with a good selection and rode through neighborhoods on a Friday night, well now, they might be on to something!!

BobbyG

Better beer delivery solution:
https://goo.gl/images/KIWxBX

Bmach

What I did not like was a "professional driver" was on board but in the sleeper compartment. Imagin what the reaction time would be if something went wrong.

Dave Cutter

My phone maps already gets updates from other phones (in a round-about way) in the area. A simple accident will detour me around any hold-ups.... in real time. Much of the "future technology" we are waiting for.... is already here.

Dave Cutter

A millisecond? Would be my guess. The electronics have back-ups. The humans won't be accompanying the real computerized drivers for very long. The human... is only riding along to satisfy the lawyers.

Dave Cutter

Is not!

But is sorta related to a thread started some time ago. Which poses the question.... Once computerized cars and trucks become the normal (and much safer) means of transportation. How long till computer drivers are the REQUIRED way to drive. And after that happens..... what happens to bicycles?

Rollfast

When bicycles are outlawed, we'll form a critical mass to overturn it.


Of Course.