Driverless Cars and the Future

[LochnarITB]

I don't know how driverless cars could go only a few feet from one another at high speeds when there are other road hazards that can occur besides car to car collisions. And how could cars realistically go at super fast speeds only a few feet apart when there is always the possibility of a sudden mechanical failure. That would cause a disastrous multicar pileup.

I doubt that there would ever be a system that maintains the cars at just a few feet at speed. There would still be spacing to allow for braking even with the reaction time a computerized driver would bring. One thing to remember is that, short of a concrete wall suddenly popping up in front of a car, momentum will keep a car moving forward even with hog parts spattered on its front or its engine turning into a paper weight. A computer does not get shocked or frightened and simply reacts to the changing conditions. It would slow the vehicle to change course or stop in a controlled manner, as would following vehicles detecting a change of proximity. Things like rollovers and lane jumping caused by things like striking a feral hog are actually the result of the human driver trying to take inappropriate corrective measures.