Auto drive can't come early enough! Especially for the long haul truckers!
Sure. Let's put more people out of work just to increase profits and to give tech types an erection. It's bad enough that we already have those double trucks on highways.
We already have people attacking self-driving vehicles. What's going to happen when idiots start cutting off self-driving trucks just to see if they can cause an accident? The truck will either have to slam on its brakes which could result in a rear-end collision or it might swerve into another lane, which could also cause a serious accident.
The Teamsters Union has 1.4 million members. Do you really think they're not going to react when they start losing jobs to self-driving trucks?
And even though human-driven trucks get into plenty of accidents, including some incredibly stupid ones, like shearling off the top because they went through an overpass tunnel that was too low for the truck, there will be far more emotion associated with accidents caused by self-driving vehicles. As soon as there are more than a few deaths, politicians will start pushing for bans in local areas because it's an issue that's easy to understand and is very populist. I can see the demonstrators now: "No Self-Driving Trucks Around Our Kids!" regardless of whether self-driving trucks have better accident records than human-driven trucks.
And as far as this driver was concerned, if he fell asleep at 3am while driving, I don't care what's in his log book, he obviously didn't get enough rest.
If the only thing that happens from the arrival of self-driving trucks is to piss off the Teamsters, then that's already a good enough reason.
There are numerous benefits to self-driving vehicles (trucks being one of them). Fewer accidents (bringing fewer injuries/deaths), reduced emissions/pollution, reduced shipping costs for all the companies that need to move goods and reduced highway congestion.
Put people out of work? I heard this doom & gloom story way back when personal computers just started coming out. Suddenly accountants and other office staff were going to be out of work and there would be massive unemployment when they were replaced by computers. How did that turn out? While there's no doubt some jobs were lost, how many millions of new jobs exist because of the PC industry? Before the personal computer there was always some other piece of technology or equipment that was going to cause massive unemployment by automating tasks that once required a human to do. I don't see this as any different. Some jobs will be lost and other new ones will be created. I can't stand when people use the threat of massive job loss to try and prevent new technology from being adopted.
I agree that it's counter-productive to resist technological change. I also think it's pointless. However, I don't share your dismissive view of its effects.
One example with which I'm personally familiar is live broadcasting. As recently as five years ago, the technical side of putting a local newscast on the air required six to ten people. Developments in broadcast automation have reduced that number to one, and that one now handles shows for multiple cities. Ignore for now how one person being responsible for the same number of tasks that used to have the attention of ten brains results in exponentially greater workplace stress, increased errors, and diminished quality. Consider only that the change results in a LOT of bodies flooding the market.
When an industry mass-dumps personnel, there's a glut of people vying for positions in related fields. Those related fields are also applying their own workforce reduction strategies, further compounding the problem. It's easy to say "Just retrain for a new career," but it ignores practical realities. Going back to school when you already have a family, mortgage, and car payments isn't a viable option. And retrain for what? Where are the growth industries for employment?
We're rapidly approaching, or may have already reached, a point at which society has more worker bees available than there are hives. What do we do with all the people we no longer need to keep the machinery running? We obviously aren't going to suppress technological advancement to protect the jobs it makes obsolete, but we better figure out how we're going to function as a society as we progress towards fewer and fewer people having a regular income.
Right now, the US is in the tightest job market in 50 years. I think anyone who really wants a job (maybe not in the same industry they left) can get a job.
The existence of jobs in other areas doesn't mean anyone can get one of them. In my neighbourhood there's demand for DSP engineers, but that doesn't help people whose skills are in designing electrical systems, programming CNC machines, or managing a distribution facility. One can't simply change industries without being qualified for the new one.
Doesn't have to be self-driving but should include safety lane keeping and braking systems. And the ability to detect near-future problems like pedestrians and stupid drivers. And detect sleeping drivers or inattentive drivers and best of all worlds pull to the side of the road.
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