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GOOGLE’s DRIVERLESS CARS will be programmed to exceed speed limits by up to 16km/h if it turns out to be the safest option.
Speaking to Reuters, the project’s lead software engineer, Dmitri Dolgov, said that while Google’s driverless car is programmed to stay within the speed limit, it can exceed it by 16km/h if it’s the best course of action.
The logic is that if surrounding vehicles are breaking the speed limit, going slower could present a danger so the car would accelerate to keep up.
Dolgov also said there was ‘ethical issues’ that need to be addressed before they’re officially allowed on the road.
Should a car try to protect its occupants at the expense of hitting pedestrians?” Gerdes asks. “And will we accept it when machines make mistakes, even if they make far fewer mistakes than humans? We can significantly reduce risk, but I don’t think we can drive it to zero.
Earlier this year, Google announced that it would be building its own self-driving cars, which seats two people and has a top speed of 40 km/h. Google plans to build 100 prototype vehicles and test early versions with manual controls.
Before that, the company had use modified cars from other manufacturers to test out its technology.
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“It wasnt me officer ..it was the car !”
If the car is caught speeding, is the driver liable? If the cars around it are speeding past a camera, and the driverless car is snapped too, can the owner hold the manufacturer of the car accountable for the offence?
Let the numbskull politicians sort that out, no wait they’ll probably make a haims of it. Is that how you spell haims? Ah who cares
I think you are nit picking here. These cars are the future. Initially they will be going so slow we will overtake them like a cyclist or a motorised wheelchair person on the road. Once their volume increases we will be well used to them. Ideal for city suburban driving but i think humans will still drive the longer intercity routes. A mix really.
I actually followed this with great interest when the concept for at came out. They will probably drive to all speed limits and above when cars are integrated into an intelligent network. Some of the concept technology has already been invented and showcased in a few TED talks, such as information being delivered through head lights between cars, I.e lights flashing on and off much to rapid for the human eye to detect but with the ability to pass binary information between vehicles on the road. Cars that can talk to one another and travel integrated, somewhat like a road train.
Just looking forward to having a snooze on my way to work :-)
Having a car doing 16kph less than other cars on the road is hardly a hazard.
What is dangerous are those who drive at 60kph on a motorway when most others are driving 100-130kph.
These gombeens are an accident waiting to happen yet there is no law to prevent them from doing this – it is downright dangerous driving and just as bad as driving over the limit and prevailing conditions.
If they can’t do to speed limit should not be on a motorway
Some states in the US still have highway limits of 50 mph which most people exceed by at least 40 kmph. Sticking anywhere near the speed limit would be very dangerous.
Also, never speed in Virginia.
Agree Alan. Worse still is driving slow on single lane national routes pressuring even patient drivers to overtake as the traffic builds up behind it.
On a three lane motorway what would happen if there was a car in lane 3 driving at 90km/h will the self driven car have to slow down that speed while in driving lane?
Wonder how driverless cars will affect Drink Driving ?
They will eliminate it.
The healy rae’s will be buying a power of these bad boys!
And slow drivers
just read today that the guards are getting penalty points for breaking speed limits in the line of duty, but we driverless cars advertising they will do the same. . this country is broken
Driverless cars are not allowed on Irish roads yet, what are you moaning about?
I think we’re trusting these cars far more than we should.
Yes they could het you a speeding ticket
We didn’t trust one yet.
They’re still in development, every car has a qualified driver behind the wheel while active and they have different colour registration plates so that other drivers know its self driving. Their safety record even in testing is excellent. By the time these things become publicly available human motorists will be by far the greatest threat
Thats the thing. The progress has been extremely good so far. Maybe it’s me just being skeptical but I think it’s a natural occurrence that when something is in development or testing, they should at least run into a few setbacks. While the media and Google tell us everything that’s great about them, what are they/we overlooking and what are they not telling us. I like the idea and id love to see what they can do when they come out. Until then, I shall remain skeptical.
Ryan Air will have its first pilotless planes flying by Christmas.
Yeah and they will add an extra payment onto the price. A “no hands tax” or something similar!
I’m just a little confused about this driverless car concept. At the risk of sounding stupid, is the driver’s seat unoccupied? And if a person does occupy the driver’s seat can s/he override the system like you can with cruise control? Answers appreciated. Thanks!
And I mean when the cars are actually in use as opposed to the trial stage.
There are many different types but googles latest prototype has no steering wheel or pedals so cannot be over rided
I’m in the same boat as you, don’t know enough about them! I’m intrigued though.
Thanks, Fernhill House. I’m not sure I’d be keen on having no control at all. Hope it has a good set of brakes and quick reflexes!
Will it drive you back from the pub ?
The usual soundbyte is trotted out ‘speed kills’
It doesn’t really, its bad judgement, bad car maintenance, bad road, drink/drugs/illness, undue care and attention to the road & weather, lack of experience and so on.
If speed were to kill we would all be dead from flying
Not worried about speed myself, it’s the sudden stop that gets ya
This technic is really breaking the speed limit for cars. The Luxury SUV Cars are also one of the best options to use the driver-less technology, because most of people are like SUV cars.
They should retro fit the speed limiter software into existing cars, so many deaths are caused by breaking the speed limit, it would make cars safer, just like seat belts.
What complete and utter garbage. According to the RSA less than 10% of accidents are attributed to breaking the ‘safe’ limit. The safe limit includes limits below the posted legal limit. So the number of those breaking the actual legal limit is even lower. …
Presumably ten percent would mean ten percent less deaths, that’s a good improvement by any measure. So in a average year that is 30 people still alive. That’s somebody daughter, sister, brother mother and father that would be alive. Plus thirty call to a house a Garda does not have to make to inform a family their son is dead.
But of course maybe everyone else is the bad driver not you.
There is no such thing as a driverless car. Even if much of a journey is managed by the car itself, it will remain under the control and responsibility of its driver, like a plane on autopilot. This driver will continue to be held responsible for observation of traffic legislaiton including speed, situational awareness and alcohol/drugs. The more important and potentially disturbing issue is the question raised at the end of the article, namely, the collision avoidance algorithms that will determine how the car reacts to an emergency. This is where the potential for real life and legal nightmares emerges.
have your say