Uber Driverless Cars

[DaveInPgh]

This service was launched today in Pittsburgh.

Would you be comfortable sharing the road with these vehicles?

Would you be comfortable utilizing the service?

[bjl584]

no. no. and, no.

One of these driverless cars just drove underneath an 18 wheeler. It wasn't in Pittsburgh, but I heard this story on the national news.

The technology just isn't there yet for me to feel safe in a driverless car. I'm not even really comfortable with the idea of taking an uber car. Let alone one without a driver.

[DaveInPgh]

I have never used Uber and have only used cabs for airport trips.

I don't think I would feel comfortable in one of these cars on the highway, but would feel safe enough within downtown Pittsburgh.

From a pedestrian standpoint, I would feel safer if all of the cars in town were driverless. I have close calls just about every day crossing the street in town.

[disneysteve]

I haven't had an opportunity to use Uber yet but I'm totally open to doing so. When we went to NYC last month, I downloaded and set up the app just in case. In fact, Chase had a promo to get up to $30 off your first trip. As it turned out, we never needed to use them.

As for the driverless cars, there is certainly an appeal to knowing that the "driver" won't be staring at her cell phone, or shaving his face, or fixing her hair, or eating a yogurt, or driving with a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, or looking at the GPS mounted in the middle of the windshield blocking his view of the road. The stuff I see on a daily basis is horrifying.

All of that said, I'm not convinced that the tech is quite ready for prime time but I don't doubt that it will be very, very soon. I'm really curious to see how this experiment turns out.

[bjl584]

I don't think I would feel comfortable in one of these cars on the highway, but would feel safe enough within downtown Pittsburgh.

Maybe once they put out the Liberty Bridge.......

[DaveInPgh]

As for the driverless cars, there is certainly an appeal to knowing that the "driver" won't be staring at her cell phone, or shaving his face, or fixing her hair, or eating a yogurt, or driving with a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, or looking at the GPS mounted in the middle of the windshield blocking his view of the road. The stuff I see on a daily basis is horrifying.

The cell phones is the issue I encounter the most, followed by aggressive drivers. No activity within the vehicle to distract them other than their NEED to get through a traffic light. Jumping the green light when making a left because otherwise they know they will get stuck sitting. Of course that coincides with the signal for pedestrians. Another is a middle of the street/yield to pedestrian crosswalk. Daily I see drivers speed up to pass in front of the people trying to cross. Those morons almost always get stuck at a redlight anyway, making their near homicide by vehicle pointless.

Of the hundreds of times a police officer was there to witness it, only once have I seen them go after the driver. Sadly I have seen them do the same exact aggressive driving as described above.

So I am definitely hoping that this technology is perfected.

[DaveInPgh]

Maybe once they put out the Liberty Bridge.......

I am one of the thousands of South Hills residents suffering from that mishap. Started my morning packed like a sardine on the T.

[bjl584]

I am one of the thousands of South Hills residents suffering from that mishap. Started my morning packed like a sardine on the T.

thankfully I don't have to commute into the city. I work out by the airport.

for the rest of the forum members, Pittsburgh is currently a mess of construction and bridge and road closures. To top it off, one of the bridges caught on fire last week. Construction works accidently caught a large tarp on fire that was draped over the bridge. That bridge was a detour for another bridge that was closed. The result was gridlock.

[DaveInPgh]

Tarp fire

[DaveInPgh]

Damage that is keeping the bridge closed

[phantom]

I've never had a reason to use Uber, but being in Pittsburgh, I'm really tempted to come up with one just to get a chance to ride in a driverless car. I had a friend on CMU's Red Team that competed in DARPA's desert challenge several years back, and I'm really excited to see the technology finally getting on the roads. It feels to me like it's been a long time coming. Sure, the technology still has a ways to, but I think testing it out with a backup driver is a great step in the right direction. I've always hated driving, and I look forward to the day that I don't need to do it anymore.

I also know 3 people who just landed jobs at Uber. They're not working on the driverless cars directly, but they're definitely part of a driverless car related hiring push. It's nice to see a local mini-hiring boom related to something other than fracking.

I'm lucky in that I don't need to cross a bridge or river to get to work, so the Liberty Bridge being out hasn't impacted me directly. But, everything's been a bit slower recently, and I'm not sure how much to blame the bridge and how much to blame kids being back in school.

[disneysteve]

everything's been a bit slower recently, and I'm not sure how much to blame the bridge and how much to blame kids being back in school.

My office is located on a square in the middle of town. Yesterday, as I turned on to the square, there were 5 school buses at some spot on the square at the same time. Two were stopped with their flashers on. It took me over 5 minutes to drive about 100 yards to park at my office.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I'd use the driverless car. I've used uber and lyft all over the place. I find in cities super convienent. It's no doubt cheaper than paying for parking and driving in many cities.

[sv2007]

It's been seen in SF; it's not really self-driving, there's always a driver in the driver's seat ready to take control.

So in effect, you are getting 2 drivers: the normal human one and an improving computer learner. If the human driver isn't paying attention, then you may crash (works for both "self-driving" and traditionally-driven cars).

I've never used Uber, but I'd have no problems riding in this situation.

In fact, wife is looking into getting a self-driving car once the technology gets better. She thinks it'll be 2020, and this is the reason we're not buying a new car right now. (We drive our cars until the first sign of trouble, and our Chrysler's auto lock doesn't work for one of it's doors, and just past warranty too! Listen to everybody; DO NOT BUY A CHRYSLER.

[DaveInPgh]

In fact, wife is looking into getting a self-driving car once the technology gets better. She thinks it'll be 2020, and this is the reason we're not buying a new car right now.

Wow. I didn't know your wife works on this technology. Please continue to share her expertise with us.