On 10/10/2017 1:44 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 10/10/2017 1:10 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 9 Oct 2017 14:55:03 -0500, DougC

wrote:

I think eventually self-driving cars will be a lot more
efficient than
what we have now...

Maybe. Personally, I see some initial problems where a
line of
self-driving vehicles proceed at the speed of the slowest
vehicle.
Even if a passing algorithm is perfected, there will still
be a
tendency for similar speed vehicles to "clump" together in
traffic. My
guess(tm) is that the self-driving vehicle will be the
equivalent of
filling the highway with very conservative drivers, that
follow every
driving regulations, never go past the speed limit, and
are courteous
to other vehicles to the point of paranoia.

Regarding "clumping": That can be beneficial on freeways.
Especially if they communicate, self-driving cars can draft
each other, forming a de facto train on the pavement. Car
occupants could relax and read, work, look at scenery,
whatever. Gas mileage (or electricity consumption) would be
reduced.

Yes, travel time might slightly increase, but the difference
would be small. For freeways, it's easy to calculate.
Driving 70 miles at 70 mph saves only about 5 minutes over
driving at 65.

And this scheme would remove one of my personal
frustrations. I use cruise control on freeways, but it seems
most drivers do not. (I guess a system with four buttons is
just too complex.) Anyway, very frequently my car on cruise
will approach a slower car, so I'll move left to pass. But
as soon as the driver notices me, he's reminded that he can
indeed drive a bit faster. So he speeds up, often matching
my speed and keeping me stuck next to him in the left lane.
In some cases, he'll speed up and pull ahead; then when he
loses concentration he slows back down. Rinse and repeat.

If everybody just locked into a convoy, that annoyance would
go away.



What? _five more minutes_? That's just crazy talk!

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971