Google Believes Self Driving Cars Should Not Have User Controls Because Drivers Can't Be Trusted

Never trust anybody who doesn't trust you!

Ditto

You're being sarcastic right?

Two things come to mind:

(1) Track record: Humans collectively have a track record for making errors. Individually, some are better than others. So "drivers can't be trusted" is like saying "men are rapists" -- a sweeping generalization without merit. Similarly, before we entrust human locomotion to autonomous cars, lets first make sure the machines are trustworthy.

(2) Accountability: In an autonomous-only car, who is accountable in the event of an accident? All we need to do is look to regions that have change vehicle insurance laws for examples. That big country to the north has lots of examples in which the intention was to simplify insurance payouts, reduce or eliminate insurance and damage claims in courts, and so on. Mandatory "No-fault Insurance" went into effect, and premiums soared. That's still the case to this day.

Do you think Google will pay when their autonomous system gets your vehicle into an accident? I think it's more likely that insurance companies will just pass the true cost onto you, the consumer, without holding the autonomous system's creator accountable.

1. Track Record: As discussed previously the Google accident right is twice the norm, however this does not mean Google is doing anything technically wrong. It may reflect more that the average driver is not expecting the 100% law abiding behavior that Google cars are performing. But in a nut shell these system need to be eased into use not blindly trusted. One thing is for sure, they moving in leaps and bounds.

2. Accountability: Google has stated if it is their fault they will pay. However all it takes is one serious software bug to cause a cluster of serious incidents and that will change.

IMHO: Insurance companies will claim lower rates, but as soon as claims drop to better driving premiums will be boosted to cover lost revenues from lack of high risk drivers.

This is very similar to the gas companies claiming high price of crude causes prices to rise. When demand drops it rises due to lack of demand. It also rises if demand increases too much or political unrest occurs somewhere in the world that is unrelated to anything

Agent009 writes "...Google has stated if it is their fault they will pay..."

What will it take to prove it's Google's fault. Millions of dollars and years in court. To be honest with you, I don't have the financial resources to go up against Google, so I don't put much stock in that statement.

Do you guys have train insurance and airplane insurance? Because eventually you're not going to own an autonomous car you're just going to ride in it. And the auto insurance business will wither and die and good riddance.

Why not just call them "Horizontal Elevators" instead of self-driving cars?

Because that's stupid.

Freedom fries!!!!

Simple solution:

If you do not want a car prohibiting you from driving it, do not buy a self-driving car.

You got twenty years or so.

Oh! And Google 'CAN' be trusted? I think NOT.