Obama pledges nearly $4 billion for self-driving cars

[stevehecht]

Can't wait.

Obama pledges nearly $4 billion for self-driving cars




By Keith Laing - 01/14/16 03:39 PM EST

President Obama is calling for lawmakers to spend $4 billion on the development of self-driving cars

The Obama administration said Thursday the money would be used "to accelerate the development and adoption of safe vehicle automation through real-world pilot projects."

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a speech at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that getting automated cars on U.S. roads more quickly would pay dividends in safety improvements.

"We know that 80 percent of car accidents are due to human error. So we ask ourselves, what happens if human error was eliminated?" Foxx said.
"If the technology meets its promise, my back of the envelope math tells me that more than 25,000 lives would have been saved in 2015 alone," he continued. "That is powerful possibility, and that is not only worth pursuing, it is worth working aggressively to determine whether or not it is true."

Foxx framed the budget proposal as an extension of President Obama's pledge to invest in a "21st century transportation system" during his final State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The money for automated vehicles in Obama's proposed budget for the 2017 fiscal year would be distributed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for pilot programs that are being used to test the viability of self-driving cars.

http://thehill.com/policy/transporta...f-driving-cars

[1MOREMOD]

Ah damn the end is near

[David70]

For a lot of my driving I am for it. Also wouldn't mind a whole bunch of the bad drivers that continue to try to do other things while driving suddenly doing these things and not driving.

I picture highways with autonomous cars merging onto the highway normally (not stopping at the end of the on ramp), passing cars when there is space and then moving back to the right. No point in worrying about it.

[MightyMouseTech]

I am all for it as well. All those ID-10-T's that can't fucking drive can now just sit back and relax and let the car do it better, while the rest of us who actually enjoy driving can go on about our business without getting cut off by people merging onto the highway at half the speed limit.

[Delta0311]

I guess this is how the horse and buggy guys felt when Karl Benz created his motor wagon and forever changed the game.

[3798j]

Let me know when he pledges money to pay down our national debt.

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by 3798j

Let me know when he pledges money to pay down our national debt.

Debt is as American as apple pie.. Buy shit you cannot afford, with money you don't have, to impress a bunch of douchebags that you can't stand; while they do the same exact same thing... I mean what's more American than that.

[gtron]

the rise of the luxury back seat. can you imagine the tech they're going to shove into the butt of these things now that people don't have to keep their eyes on the road?

wanna drive? install xbox and forza in the back seat. drive while your luxury virtual driver brings you to your destination. haha

[stevehecht]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

I am all for it as well. All those ID-10-T's that can't fucking drive can now just sit back and relax and let the car do it better, while the rest of us who actually enjoy driving can go on about our business without getting cut off by people merging onto the highway at half the speed limit.

As long as you can still buy cars that don't drive themselves, you have a point.

[trey100]

Originally Posted by stevehecht

As long as you can still buy cars that don't drive themselves, you have a point.

My guess is that self driving cars work better when every car around is self driving. Keeping everything in a controlled environment.

What is the point of this technology if not safety which to me entails making everyone own these? If a mixed market of self and human driven cars is allowed, how many people would buy a car of their own free will because they think they are a danger to other people?

[PoorLurker]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

I guess this is how the horse and buggy guys felt when Karl Benz created his motor wagon and forever changed the game.

[BillD1953]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

I guess this is how the horse and buggy guys felt when Karl Benz created his motor wagon and forever changed the game.

I'm sure Karl Benz was investing his OWN MONEY and not asking for a handout from the German govt to "get rollin" !!

Quite frankly I dont want a dime of my federal tax contribution used for "smart car" development.

Let the market dictate what they want to drive....not the govt

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by BillD1953

I'm sure Karl Benz was investing his OWN MONEY and not asking for a handout from the German govt to "get rollin" !!

Quite frankly I dont want a dime of my federal tax contribution used for "smart car" development.

Let the market dictate what they want to drive....not the govt

No technically it was his wife's money. She was also the first person in history to drive a motorized wagon aka a car.

[RM7]

When I'm old and shouldn't be driving anymore, I'll still be able to hop in a car and go where I want.

[E92 M Sport]

How about spending the 4 billion to fix our crumbling roads and infrastructure first?

[cenix]

Or 4 billion for better driver's courses & education. People on the roads these days... jeez

[RM7]

Originally Posted by E92 M Sport

How about spending the 4 billion to fix our crumbling roads and infrastructure first?

Because most accidents are caused by human error on the part of the driver?

[1MOREMOD]

Right it's not an accident, it's incompetence.

[paliknight]

Most of the drivers that need this technology are the ones that will not be able to afford it.

Also, God forbid one piece of technology on those cars is defective or malfunctions.

[1MOREMOD]

Yeah can you image sleeping on your way to work and wake up going 100 launching off an overpass.

[auf Deutsch]

I'd venture to say that this will diminish drunk driving/DUI incidents, which it may very well do. Then I'm reminded of the false confidence that booze creates. People will put the car in self-drive mode anyway and hero their way home, get a DUI, and feel like a complete assface the next day.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by E92 M Sport

How about spending the 4 billion to fix our crumbling roads and infrastructure first?

That will be taken care of by the 'other' $4 billion that's sitting over to the side.

billions for everyone!!! yay government!!