True enough but adding to the mayhem with potentially failed technology isn't an answer. I don't like settling for "better than the worse" so maybe that's my flaw?

 

Look at the technology that already exists in other forms of transportation. Railroads, commercial airlines, air traffic control, military, etc.

Most of the tech already exists. Aircraft are aware of everything around them. It would be interesting to see what the automotive systems react to. Horizontal - 10 degrees to horizonal + 30 (to 45) would be my guess. The vehicle would have to be prepared to react to falling objects, particularly in mountainous areas. And everything in that 360 degree donut would be under observation.

 

Hmmm... On our recent trip to Az we were cruising down a two lane road, straight & unobstructed views for miles. Local was turning left onto a dirt road. We saw him for miles, sitting there with his blinker on, talking to someone in another car who was turning left onto the highway from that side road. I was cruising about 70 and since he hadn't made a move in the last couple of miles we traveled I figured he was still bs'ing and had seen us coming. Well, at the last minute this jack-wagon turned right in front of us. I hit the brakes, swerved into the oncoming traffic lane, and barely missed this guy. Thankfully there wasn't any oncoming traffic, and I had observed that. I sincerely believe if we had been in my SD that dude would have been pushing up daisies and we would have been looking for a new truck, best case scenario. We were left with a huge adrenaline dump, metamorphically soiled underwear, and we dumped our dog out of her travel bed in the back seat into the floor. I wonder what the self-driving car would have done in that circumstance. Would it have just applied maximum braking and crashed, would it have analyzed the situation and swerved into the other lane, with or without verifying the oncoming traffic situation? Who knows. by the Grace of God, we avoided catastrophe, but would the outcome have been the same w/ a self driving vehicle? Who knows?

 

Can't imagine making a 4oo-8oo mile drive and staying alert for every second of it sitting and holding a steering wheel and not making one decision about that drive. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz's most the way is my thought !
Heck some 18 Wheelers are allover the highway now ! Sure hope this doesn't become like target practice, Tesla fair game for accident wanna bees. Think of the Law suits, one will need self driver car Liability
With the independent thinker in control of you who controls it, a mobile app with a defective down load ? Heck Sinc doesn't even work and it just Blutooths to a phone, GPS doesn't work and the radio station constantly changes channels. Heck !

If I don't take my trucker GPS unit inside it will freeze and break on a -10 night. Done it ! Where you gonna do when you r fancy smart screen fails in your self driver ? Stare at a code on your smart phone.
Reminds me of the other day at a Convenience Store. Little lady asked me where the Marina was, her son was coaching a baseball game there. I checked my smart phone for gps directions. Then asked her to put them in her smart phone. She said she didn't own one of them fancy things. Well after a while she said her son had just sid turn right at the Marina Sign on highway. Well; i thought for about 1 second and said do you mean Marine. She thought and didn't know. So I said you know you may have missed that sign on the interstate 75 miles back up a different highway. Well; She didn't know, so I said if you keep looking for that sign abouts here you are gonna get real lost. Drive back toward home some 200 miles away and you may see the sign as you retrace your steps. Now if she had a Tesla Would she have been in Marina or Marine about an hour ago ?

 

That's mostly an apples-to-oranges comparison due those operating the vehicles when they're not traveling in a fully automatic mode. Trains rarely share their lane with others, commercial pilots do not fly alone always a co-pilot, ATC is somewhat automated but people are still vital parts of its success and military vehicles tend to not be on public highways.

At some point self-driving vehicles will be sharing the roads much, much more frequently but not in the future I can see.

 

Oh "Great Swami" of burning Batteries ! Tell us a Future ! Will there be parking lots aflame with burning batteries ?

 

 

 

Gonna bet on Solar Radiation and extreme Martian Temps for this is a Douchbag Qualifier also. I ok if it is Life but Nah ! Pics may move To Alien Abduction as the years pass.

 

Not sure if this best goes in the DB or the DRAINAGE thread, but here goes....

My nephew (niece's husband) is as clueless as they come. He's a great guy, but had one of those childhoods where common sense didn't exist and certainly wasn't taught or passed down.

We've been doing a LOT of work on their new-to-them house, typically every weekend and 1 or 2 evenings a week. I'd replaced the toilet in the hall bath but a series of small issues, the latest being a leaky valve that needed replacing, kept me from getting it hooked up to the water supply. When we started work yesterday, I went straight to that bathroom to swap out the valve, but my nephew had gotten there first. I wound up asking what could possibly make him think that it was a good idea to use a toilet that I hadn't finished installing, and was currently working on. An "oh, crap" look on his face was the only reply. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it was descriptive....

 

Please tell me he didn't leave you a deposit in there!!!!
D-Bag / Drainage.... All the same

 

↑Maybe a pail of water would flush it ! But yea summed up sure "Douchebag moments"

Here Ya go ! The Post Douchebag year out to an evening sort of Collision of "waht" Possibly can go wrong !

 

This one's on me for being a dumb-a** d-bag. Years ago me & my son, my buddy and his 2 sons were out in my boat. We were on the St Johns River and had been pulling the boys on a tube & kneeboard. The oldest two boys were probably 11-12, with his younger boy about 10. The young one wanted to learn how to ride the knee board so I took them into a cove off the river where it was pretty slick and there was a big sand bar. I got out on the sand bar in about waist deep water & held the board steady so he could start out on his knees instead of having to pull himself up. My buddy drove the boat. Away they went. I was relaxing in the water, at least 100 yards from shore, on this sand bar. There was some grassy areas around where I was but it was open water. Its a known fact that there are some really big alligators in the river around that area but for some reason I wasn't concerned with that. No beer was involved in that decision either. As I was watching the goings on with the new knee boarder all of sudden a large creature swam between my legs and partially lifted me out of the water. I know I probably screamed like a little girl but since there wasn't anyone around to hear me I guess it's like the tree falling in the forest deal. Anyway, my first thought was it was a gator trying to size me up for a meal. But, to my great relief, it was only a manatee. I was immediately relived (literally and figuratively as I 'm pretty sure I saw a brown streak along the back of that critter). After I stopped shaking it was pretty funny. I shared the story with the boat crew and we all had a laugh. We immediately took the operation to a location where I could retreat to the bank instead of waiting in the water. Note to self. Do not stand on sand bar in the middle of an alligator infested cove while your boat is doing laps 1/4 mile away.

 

Had something similar while taking a short cut through the plumbing fixtures aisle at a Lowes/Home Depot. Barely beyond a toddler was fully encamped atop a display toilet. As I passed him he was excited to exclaim something to the effect he'd done this without any parental help, soooooooo very proud he was. Just about then the young man's father approached, horrified saying "What are you DOING?". Toddler explains he had to go, thought he could practice outside the home---plenty of seats open...........

He had indeed made boom-boom, father was futher horrified but kept his composure while taking his son by the hand looking for a store employee---no doubt trying to ascertain what damages he might incur with this minor transgression but eventful time of the lad's life.

I think now both stores DO NOT put the typical movable toilet seats on the fixtures----could that be a co-incidence?

 

You encountered a 3 year old. My nephew is 27!