• Boomer Humor Doomergod@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I saw a video recently by a car enthusiast who hates the idea of self driving cars for a novel reason.

    Even if self-driving cars are safer than people it won’t stop bad owners. People who drive with unsafe mechanical issues they can’t or won’t get fixed are still going to exist, and bald tires and worn brakes would eliminate any potential safety benefits of self driving.

    And by further removing people from the operation of a car, you’re making them worse owners. They won’t know what a worn tie rod bushing would feel like because they never steer. Making cars into appliances just makes them less safe.

    He also made a point that I agree with: If we get people who don’t want to drive off the road, the roads would be nicer for people who do want to drive.

    • PunnyName@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Back when I used to agree with Mush, he said something I still agree with, “you don’t want flying cars, because you don’t want a poorly maintained car to fly around and lose a hubcap”.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      So many times watching a car crash video, someone hydroplanes through a puddle …. my first reaction is I bet they live somewhere without safety inspections and those tires are bald

    • Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      10 months ago

      A solution to this would be if mechanics would come to every owner’s house, inspect the cars, and do repairs, but that’s not unique to autonomous cars. Plus, that’s super expensive. Not the best solution by far.

      Alternatively, since the cars are autonomous, they could report to repair facilities on their own, and return to owners once repairs are complete. This might be a decent solution if the owner can program which repair facility the car should go to, likely based on what’s cheapest or well known.

      These are the only solutions I can think of that don’t include a third party owning the cars themselves, with monitor where the cars are and can direct them to their own repair facility (or one of their choosing). Doesn’t really seem so far off from the owner’s having this control now that I think of it.

      • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Any sane country has mandatory periodic safety inspections for vehicles. No need to have mechanics inspect cars at people’s homes since owners are required to bring them to the garage every few years.