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Showing posts with the label auto sales

Driverless cars

You’ve heard the news about the latest technology, driverless cars and trucks*.   Can it happen?   It has.   Already four states have made it legal.    Accidents have happened, and promoters have added radar to the detection array. Google’s explanations are amusing, calling it a misunderstanding and a learning experience.   But there is yet another serious hurdle.   It is statistical.   Statistics #1.   If suddenly we changed to driverless cars, there would be accidents, lots of them.   The software would require multiple tunings. This takes time and testing; even the process of updating takes time. Accidents would continue.  Scrutiny would increase, the barrage of them keeping this always in mind. On the basis only of accidents and their visual statistics, the program might possibly be abandoned.   But if not... folks would not be driving their cars anymore.   Cars would become mere taxis.   The thrill would be gone.   Car sales would sag, with people replacing them only as