thinkabit,

You didn't factor in 'roos,deer, goats and pigs.

I might add that out on the road all the racing and rally drivers that I've known have been very safe and considerate drivers; they know and understand the physical forces involved in handling a car.

Garbage thinkabit, there is an old adage in motor racing that goes, "to finish first, first you have to finish". The odd hoon goes racing, but after a crash or 2, or having their lack of ability highlighted by comparison, they soon scuttle back to showing off on the road.

Motor racing was the spur that developed so many of the systems that make the mundane shopping trolley so safe today. As for racing drivers crashing, I still hold a couple of Bathurst lap records, I raced there for years, winning many races or classes, up to formula 1, & without a geek to be seen. In some thousands of miles around Bathurst, I never so much as put a scratch on a car.

I did however encounter many unexpected situations, requiring instant correct decisions to avoid an accident. As well as being able to drive very quickly, it is this ability to recognise & avoid suddenly developing situation that distinguish the good from the less good driver. Thus I want to see the computer achieve a very high level of this ability before they are allowed anywhere near public roads.

No amount of simulations, or trundling around roundabouts at slow speeds will prove their ability in emergency situations. The race track is the logical venue to evaluate the computers ability to handle those times when it all goes pear shape. A 100 kilometre race at Bathurst would be more testing than 100 thousand kilometres around town.

Dear Hasbeen,

Here you go mate, footage from 4 years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxHcJTs2Sxk

Shelley's done even better since.

"Driverless cars now out-perform skilled racing drivers, engineers at Stanford University have shown, after pitting their latest model against a track expert. The team has designed a souped-up Audi TTS dubbed ‘Shelley’ which has been programmed to race on its own at speeds above 120 mph at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Northern California. When they tested it against David Vodden, the racetrack CEO and amateur touring class champion, Shelley was faster by 0.4 of a second."

Granted still not mixing it with other cars but I would say in a few years that will be happening too.

That is exactly my point Steely. It is the other cars that generate the emergency situations that test the ability of the good driver.

It is pretty easy to fine tune a computer to achieve a good result when you can progressively change the program to suit a given circuit, this is not driving, or anything approaching it.

When they can reliably pick their way quickly, fast & regularly through the first lap melee in a crowded grid, on a strange track, I will withdraw my objection entirely. Until then, no way! I remain to be convinced that geeks, renowned lousy drivers, will ever get them to do it.

At the moment I am in India and have been having second hand driving experiences, I'd never attempt to drive under local conditions.
The British established driving on the left and other road rules and most Indian drivers agree with them but a significant number break most rules and some drivers all of them.
Yesterday's prime example was three motor cyclists dodging through a gap in the median strip, on a major and crowded road, and coming against the traffic; number two was another bloke on a motor bike riding over the median strip at right angles and accelerating (with inches to spare) into a side street.
Cars and bikes (motor and pedal) overtake on the left, as do cars, then cut in front of other drivers to the accompaniment of a chorus of horns.
The short of it is that the volume of traffic is such that adherence to the rules causes a grinding halt.
Driverless, logically controlled vehicles could not cope and I'm in a provincial city, Mumbi is much worse and Delhi unbelievable.

An Australian traffic policeman would turn white haired in minutes!!

Hi there IS MISE...

I was in Calcutta in the early nineties and trying to drive there, was an absolute nightmare, minus the road rage. A squillion low powered motor bikes, and everything in between that was capable of mounting an engine of sorts. Not only carrying around the entire family but other sundry household goods? Dodging old overcrowded, omnibuses that were spewing out all manner of diesel effluvium, yet the driver was heavily engaged in a serious conversation, with just an occasional glance at on-coming traffic as he did so ?

Like the People's Republic, I saw two fatal accidents on the same day in Calcutta, where the deceased was just left in situ until someone in authority came along, and removed him to where ever? An amazing experience I have to say?

STEELEREDUX, to thoroughly test a Level 4 autonomous vehicle control system, perhaps it should first trialed in a crowded City like Calcutta, where recognition and observance of local traffic legislation should be scrutinized? What do you think ?

PS: A very interesting and thought provoking Topic, I believe!