The valley's not the only place I've ever lived. I grew up in Boston, which certainly has its share of inclement weather, one-lane roads, roads without lane markers, one-way streets, 3 left turns that don't make a right, lack of signage, etc. All of these are challenges, but they're not insurmountable challenges.
I'm pretty sure I've seen self-driving cars on Highway 1 in California, for example, which has construction, cattle gratings, one-lane segments, a lot of twists and turns, pull-offs, and places where it gets very narrow and you have to pull off and let opposing traffic pass. They had safety drivers, but I think this means that Google's at least considering these driving conditions in their software.
All I can say is "we'll see". I personally don't believe these challenges will be addressed in 5 years. Perhaps you do (not putting words in your mouth, since you never claimed this), though we agree that no challenge is insurmountable. 50 years is a good marker here. The PCH is tough but it represents but one slice of the challenge; how about hwy 130 to Mt Hamilton? In January? The idea of a car without a steering wheel is far off to me, even in California.
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The valley's not the only place I've ever lived. I grew up in Boston, which certainly has its share of inclement weather, one-lane roads, roads without lane markers, one-way streets, 3 left turns that don't make a right, lack of signage, etc. All of these are challenges, but they're not insurmountable challenges.
I'm pretty sure I've seen self-driving cars on Highway 1 in California, for example, which has construction, cattle gratings, one-lane segments, a lot of twists and turns, pull-offs, and places where it gets very narrow and you have to pull off and let opposing traffic pass. They had safety drivers, but I think this means that Google's at least considering these driving conditions in their software.
All I can say is "we'll see". I personally don't believe these challenges will be addressed in 5 years. Perhaps you do (not putting words in your mouth, since you never claimed this), though we agree that no challenge is insurmountable. 50 years is a good marker here. The PCH is tough but it represents but one slice of the challenge; how about hwy 130 to Mt Hamilton? In January? The idea of a car without a steering wheel is far off to me, even in California.
We'll see.