Travelling

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Would there be a self driving car test of somekind?

Good question. Probably a theoretical exam of some sorts with questions about how to find your way through gps navigation and about car insurance. Maybe self driving cars never become mainstream and instead everybody is flying around in passenger carrying drones in 20 years time.

That's very true. I managed to visit the Van Gogh Museum (it was my main motivation for going ) and thought it was amazing! I really wanted to visit the Rijksmuseum too, but unfortunately ran out of time .

That sounds a great plan, I hope you manage to do it someday!

Good question! I wonder... There'd probably be a safety/emergency test in case something went wrong with the car?

Self-driving cars always make me think of the ones in 'Demolition Man' for some reason

Actually, there is a great bit of research and development in this field going on with American auto manufacturers. Many models out of Detroit, Michigan are advertising self-parallel parking and automatic obstacle detection and self-breaking features, as well as a cruise control that keeps the vehicle centered in lane and even automatically breaks while driving in interstate highway/motorway traffic. The US state of Michigan has legally cleared the way for fully self-driving cars to be tested on all public roads, with a human test driver at the ready to take control, of course.

These new and expirimental features have already generated a great deal of controversy in the states and abroad. A driver in Japan died while asleep at the wheel when the autopilot feature failed to recognize a stalled semi truck in his travel lane, and the car rear-ended the truck at full speed. A distracted Uber driver relying on their automatic obstacle breaking in the American Southwest killed a cyclist in a residental area. Both fatal accidents occured at night, but during clear, dry weather.

A primary concern of many auto insiders, enthusiasts, and traffic attorneys is that drivers may begin to rely too heavily on untested features and become more distracted than they already are. American states already have many laws in place against cellular phone use while driving, and it still remains a huge problem. My closest friend's father, and another passenger of his, were killed in July of 2018 by a woman texting and driving well above the speed limit, in sunny dry weather...

Which leads me to another issue at hand, with regard to autopilot cars, weather comditions. It remains unclear how self-breaking, autopilot modes, etc. will detect and respond to changing (or already present) weather conditions such as rain, snow, ice, and fog. Most drivers can do it well, by dropping speed or responding to hydroplaning in rain or skids during snow and ice. Also, what about potholes, wildlife, roadkill, litter and debris, or unmarked chemical spills on a roadbed? Standing water in a road during dry weather...?

It's true that some autopilot cars have driven themselves vast distances on closed highways during tests in good weather (and in daylight), but in my opinion, many US manufacturers seem to be pushing out this new technology before it has yet been proven roadworthy.

Cyclists are going to be a big concern as they can dissapear and not be picked up by sensors, so it is quite a concern. I have a 25 year old Japanese imported 4WD people carrier. It is not roadworthy as it is but won't take a lot to fix it. This vehicle has an all round radar system so it can tell you where obsticles are before you hit into them. (Well. The plan is not to hit into them!) This is a factory built in extra to the car. It has many other luxuries built in as well which were not seen in the UK for many years like electric curtains, two air conditioning systems, etc, etc.
But my point is that though the technology is there, it should work as an aid to drivers and not as a necessity. Is a bit like antilock brakes. Drivers should ideally be experienced in driving without this feature and then this feature is a useful safety device. (I have had the feature actually cause dangerous conditions on more then one car as it stops a skidding wheel from braking if only two wheels are on mud on the side of the road, and the antilock brakes compensate by preventing one from having any brakes at all! I have had this happen on more then one make of car I have owned. Here where I live we have to often drive with two wheels on grass verges. One soon learns to brake first and then drift onto the verge but with so many hidden corners on narrow single tracked roads...)

I personally believe all drivers should learn to drive in cars void of all the electronic safety systems and other technical aids like power steering etc first before they then drive cars with them. That way they really learn to "Feel" the road properly and have proper braking distances and learn how to manually feather the brakes to avoid a skid under heavy braking etc. Then add the saftey features and they will know how to safely drive should a feature suddenly fail.

I'd like to travel but I have a difficult time figuring out directions. Though I'm slowly figuring out places through google street view.

Go by train?

^^ This is all really interesting. I'd never considered self-parking and cruise control as a precursor to self-driving before, but I guess it is.
The weather issues are interesting- they would have to figure out a sensor that would interpret all that and act accordingly, not only with the weather but other cars and what they do.

I can't drive, so I'd love for self-driving cars to be a thing. But only once extensive research and checks are done that make it safe for everyone involved, which I think is a long way off. It sounds like they've tested them too soon and it's had pretty awful consequences (which I'm sorry to hear you've had personal connections to DeepBlueSouth).

&MG and Dimples123: The train is a good suggestion as they usually stop at every stop which gives you time to get off at the right place. I struggle with figuring out directions, too! But I now use google maps which is pretty good. If I need to get off at a certain stop/ place I can type it in and zoom in to see the bus stops- It shows where you want to go as a red dot and you're a blue one that moves. I've found it really useful and can now remember what stops to get off at mostly without watching it anymore.

(WP thinks I'm a robot if I quote at the moment )

What type of robot?

I'm hoping a nice one like Johnny5 and not a terminator

Haha! Yes.

I don't know where a train station would be in my area and I would have to drive to one, I live in a super rural area.

Travelling by train in The Netherlands is fairly easy, because most big cities lie really close together and there are a lot of train stations. In my home town there isn't one, but there is a decent bus service from my home to the nearest station in the nabouring city.

I watched some BBC documentaries a few years ago about the history of train travel and about train journeys in the present. Therefore I know that travelling by train in the UK isn't that hard either, especially compared with the USA. I use Google Maps too. Before have to go somewhere I memorize the route I have to walk between the bus stop or station and my final destination. Luckily my visual memory is quite good compared to other types of memory.

That's good to know. When we were in the Netherlands we didn't know how to get back from the Van Gogh museum and it was getting quite late. A man who was running a canal trip let us get on his boat and go back to the port area that way.
I'd never considered the differences in train travel between countries before. I think stops and stations are in most places here, and in my experience trains are almost always late.

I do the memorizing too . I aso try to remember 'landmarks' of places, but I've found I have to remember a few because if the one you remember is changed it gets a bit confusing!