Are The Billions Being Spent On Autonomous Cars Going To Kill The "Driver's" Car?

At the turn of the twentieth century, as Henry Ford began mass producing automobiles (AKA “The Horseless Carriage”), people fretted that this might mean the end of the horse and buggy, and all related businesses and professions. We’re doing that now with respect to EVs and autonomous cars.

There is no doubt that the only constant is change, so it’s conceivable that in a few decade’s time, manually-operated cars with internal combustion engines will be a rarity, requiring specialized services to keep them operational. Remember that even more than a hundred years after Ford’s mass produced cars, the horse and buggy have not gone extinct. You can see them in Amish and Mennonite country, in Central Park, and other touristy areas. A similar thing might eventually happen with today’s conventional cars.

It's only a matter of time until self-driving cars become the majority on roads, the big question is whether it will take 20 years or 100.

The BIGGEST Problem will not be just that there will be self-driving cars. It is what the technology has the capability of doing to cars that are driven.

I suspect that eventually speed limits will be enforced by electronic messages sent to the cars from the road - to level the playing field with autonomous cars. Otherwise - speed will be a real problem for the self drivers. I also believe that at least on big highways - that approach acceleration will also be controlled by the HIGHWAY -supposedly to make merging easier.

And while Universally obeyed speed limits and controls on how a car can be driven (For instance - if everyone is going the same speed - no need for passing.) will eventually almost eliminate accidents and deaths on roads - it will also take all the fun out of driving - reducing cars to simple transportation devices. While the LUXURY car would survive - the performance vehicles would likely not - since they would not be able to go any faster or quicker than the lowest common denominator.

"Always" and "never" are two of the most dangerous words in the English language...

There is a niche out there that looks at driving as a pleasurable thing. Some manufacturers will continue to extract value from that group.

There is another group called collectors that enjoys acquiring things that aren't otherwise available to most people. That group will likely continue to seek the benefits of such 'pleasure machines.' (You can see it today with many higher end, limited run cars.

There is yet another group that believes using your brain is the only way to keep it functioning properly or optimally. That group will continue to seek machines that do not replace their mental functions but rather complement them. That more nuanced group will seek both forms of driving under different circumstances.

And insofar as eliminating all risks, the only solution I can see thus far is death. But perhaps that's too big a risk in itself... :)

I'm all for technology that enhances a person's ability to drive safely, but the minute the driver of the car is not driving we absolve that person of responsibility should anything happen and make him a victim of the technology.

Self-driving cars are all about being too lazy to drive.