[BenLurkin]

Bad idea.

[gorush]

The new VW hovercar is all the rage in China...
http://www.flixxy.com/volkswagen-levitating-car.htm#.UQ6TJ2eoTaE

[lacrew]

“...are rapidly reaching the stage where they will be ready for the market”

What ‘market’. Who on earth would want one of these?

[DuncanWaring]

Given what it takes to build a self-landing airplane, I wouldn’t expect to see reliably-self-driving cars for at least a quarter-century.

[illiac]

Hop Windows is not the operating system...hate to get he blue screen of death....

[Sybeck1]

Seem like an avenue for more government control

[Paine in the Neck]

Self-driving cars, even if they offered perfect safety (ha) and economy, are a bad idea because they represent government control of individual’s transportation. First step monitoring, second step taxation, third step restrictions, fourth step prohibition.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Just a year ago, Thrun says, the test operators of these cars had to intervene an average of once every 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) to correct a mistake on the part of the automatic driving system. "Now we can drive 80,000 kilometers without having to intervene," he says.

OK, Mr. Thrun, please explain why:

1. On Friday, I got off 237 and turned onto North First Street in San Jose with 4 miles left in my tank. I turned to Google to find the nearest gas station and was informed it was 45 miles away in San Francisco. No amount of clicking the "Use precise map" button could persuade it otherwise.
2. Yesterday, I was in San Jose and asked Google to map the way to the Home Depot in Sunnyvale. At Kifer and Lawrence, Google Maps announced I had "arrived at my destination"...but the Home Depot was a mile further up Kifer.

Basic Google navigational technology still has major flaws and I don't think it is ready to power self-driving cars.

One of their test cars passed me in the carpool lane on 237 a couple weeks back and I gave it a WIDE berth.

[Iron Munro]

Automated factories of robots building cars that do not need humans to navigate?

What is the ultimate goal - people-less cities?

[DuncanWaring]

Let me know when they can get through a construction zone at night in the rain.

[ThunderSleeps]

Drive home at night when a dusting of snow has obliterated the lane markers and there are no other cars around to follow, no tracks... It is amazing what the human mind can perceive and accomplish. Getting a computer to do this?

[CSM]

I can envision localities fighting this technology to try and kill it. If we have cars run by computers, what will that do to the revenues from tickets and dui arrests?