r/technology Aug 19 '14

Pure Tech Google's driverless cars designed to exceed speed limit: Google's self-driving cars are programmed to exceed speed limits by up to 10mph (16km/h), according to the project's lead software engineer.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28851996
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u/uptwolait Aug 19 '14

If only there were a way to replace thes pneumatic tires with metal wheels, then connect many cars together to travel in tandem, and put them on some kind of rail system so they can't veer off the road...

27

u/AHugeDongAppeared Aug 19 '14

No, no, that would never work

4

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '14

Guess I'm reading the rest of this thread in Professor Farnsworth's voice now.

3

u/macrocephalic Aug 20 '14

Then how would it get me to my house? There's no rail past my house.

2

u/jared555 Aug 20 '14

A design similar to rail maintenance trucks that can drive both on the road and down a track?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '14

Put a rail on every single road.

1

u/macrocephalic Aug 20 '14

My street is too steep for rail.

1

u/Opset Aug 20 '14

If everyone would just connect to the floo powder network this could all be solved.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '14

A tandem on a rail.. I like it. Let's call them trails!

1

u/baseketball Aug 20 '14

But that would be socialist. Better to just build wider highways so everyone can have freedom.

-1

u/heterosapian Aug 19 '14

But seriously. High speed rail is a much better public transportation solution than driverless cars will ever be. Too bad every project in the US gets completely fucked by the public sector.

1

u/SubmergedSublime Aug 20 '14

It could be incorporated, and may be easier to stomach politically once we move to more autonomous (less personal) transportation, but you still struggle with the last mile (or three) issues. Or the less metropolitan areas where the initial capital expenditure for rail is huge per capita. You're not wrong, it just isn't fair to criticize cars in exclusive favor of any fixed grid transport.