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Speaker: Confessions of an Uber Driver II: How we doing?

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  • BenWilson, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Love that Italian one. Those literally do exist, they even look exactly like that. They're called mobility scooters. Somehow, they just haven't taken off, though, although they are good for the disabled. I wonder if that's going to be the real spinoff from all the driverless technology. Flop on the mass market angle, but made cars that Stephen Hawking can drive! FTW.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Moz, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Anything could happen…

    They look so young :) Also, can we call him BoSco or RoSco to fit in with the latest young kids?

    If we're going to do freaky stuff on roads, I like the pedal powered monorail guy at http://shweeb.co.nz/ Utterly impractical, more than slightly nuts, but also funny. To be all boring about it, I suspect the switch from trolley buses to battery buses is happening about now, and hopefully the switch away from diesel starts soon. Buy Ben's right, it's hard to beat steel wheels on steel rails for efficiency on a whole range of measures.

    Sydney, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 1233 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood, in reply to BenWilson,

    They’ve got the legal and ethical side under control (they just ignore it).

    Which would be tricky to do if they are developing their own cars and putting those assets on a road. That gives authorities something to latch onto.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    I suspect the switch from trolley buses to battery buses is happening about now

    I'm suspecting a bogus greenwash here and have seen no evidence that fossil fuel usage will be reduced rather than increased by the introduction of hybrid buses.

    Do these buses really have the battery capacity to run for a day, even with some of them being taken off-road for staggered charge around lunchtime?

    I also haven't seen any plans for charging => the Eastern suburbs, where a lot of Wellington's buses are garaged, is on a spur of the electricity network that's close to capacity - if they expected to charge hundreds of buses, then I'd think we'd hear about a new 33kV interconnector being built, and I haven't.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to David Hood,

    Which would be tricky to do if they are developing their own cars and putting those assets on a road. That gives authorities something to latch onto.

    Yes, you'd hope that if driverless cars were unleashed without legislation allowing them, that the punishments in the country would be quite severe. But then again, with the current governmental attitude, such a move could just be seen as "disruptive" and the punishment would be promises to railroad legislative changes enabling it through. This would then not actually be done, but individuals found in such cars would be charged instead. Because compliance in this country is meant only to punish locals and disadvantage them against foreign based multinationals.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • goforit, in reply to BenWilson,

    Hi Ben, reading the statement made by our great leader the Minister of Transport he states there is no such law that states a vehicle must have a human driver. With the way he has handled Uber or lack of would such a statement let Uber off the hook over the P endorsement problem by just having driverless cars.

    Auckland • Since May 2016 • 314 posts Report Reply

  • linger, in reply to goforit,

    But could any vehicle that doesn't at least allow a human driver pass a WOF?

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood, in reply to BenWilson,

    This would then not actually be done, but individuals found in such cars would be charged instead.

    So an unregulated, unregistered driverless car would be left to go on its way on the road after authorities remove/fine the offending passenger?

    The first few insurance cases around this, let alone any criminally liable actions, are going to be very interesting to watch from a distance. In particular thinking of things like the 20km/per hour passing a labelled (several alternative labels) School Bus pulled over to pick up or let off children.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • goforit, in reply to David Hood,

    Would a driverless car respond to a police officer asking it to pull over and stop. If so who or what gets the offence notice.

    Auckland • Since May 2016 • 314 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to goforit,

    LOL, now there's an angle I never thought of. That the Minister would say it's already legal!!

    I'm finding it a bit hard to believe he took legal advice on that. The law states that the driver must have an appropriate license, and that they must be of the appropriate age to get that license. The license has to have on it their name, photograph, date of birth, etc. The reference everywhere to the driver is as a "person". I don't really think it takes much of a genius to realize that the law implicitly assumes that the driver is a human, that the entire Land Transport Act is predicated on that.

    There's no way around having to rewrite the entire thing. It's hundreds of pages long. 275 clauses. Best get on that, Minister!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to David Hood,

    So an unregulated, unregistered driverless car would be left to go on its way on the road after authorities remove/fine the offending passenger?

    Well this is in the hypothetical world that Uber continues to get the free pass that it has so far, that the government will never hold them accountable for any criminal incitement whatsoever, and the millions that the have made in profit for the crimes they incited will never be recovered. When the government claims that they are taking steps to make Uber follow the law, so far they have meant that they are taking steps to enforce the law on drivers. Every driver sent off the road with a big fine (I’ve spoken to many of these in the last few weeks) is replaced in the sign up offices in mere hours.

    I call them sign up offices specifically, because they are clearly not the actual Uber offices. Uber does not have any offices in NZ. When someone went in to serve them a dispute notice the other day, apparently the staff ran away screaming that they do not, in fact, work for Uber. They literally put their hands up like they were being robbed. They went out the back to find the actual Uber staff, but apparently they had literally run away. As in, physically ran out the back door of the office.

    This is an organization our government wants to be putting guided 2 ton missiles on the road? Wow. Somewhere there’s not so much a logic fail as a basic humanity fail going on.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Moz, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    "switch from trolley buses to battery buses"
    have seen no evidence that fossil fuel usage will be reduced rather than increased by the introduction of hybrid buses.

    Do you know what a non sequitur is?

    My point was that building a trolley bus network is probably more expensive than buying latest-gen battery ones that are already running in some parts of the world (list is long). In the foreseeable future running them will be cheaper than maintaining the trolley wires and buses, and given the new trolley buses mostly have batteries to let them route around wiring problems, they may even "evolve" bigger batteries over time until the "trolley" part means a charging connector on top of the bus.

    Then there's the one someone recently drove from Melbun to Sydney (900km) without recharging. Sure, that's not a full day on the road by any means, but it suggests that for some routes battery would work now. And it was a long-haul bus not an inner-city one.

    What's happening in Wellington, IIRC, is a fight between council/public who want trolley buses, and bus company(s) who don't, but have been compelled to operate them by the nasty taxpayer forcing money on them for the service. My expectation is that to get electric buses working the council will have to run them themselves.

    The fine print of where they charge comes down to cost of extending the grid vs cost of moving the depot (political cost as well as financial).

    Sydney, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 1233 posts Report Reply

  • Moz, in reply to goforit,

    Would a driverless car respond to a police officer asking it to pull over and stop. If so who or what gets the offence notice.

    The car, obviously, since that's the thing operating the vehicle and in possession of the driver's license. The bit that I want to see is the car going for the driving test, specifically the eye test and the oral questions.

    Sydney, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 1233 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Moz,

    Sure, that’s not a full day on the road by any means

    At 50km/h, it's well beyond a full day's work.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Moz,

    specifically the eye test and the oral questions

    Proving they're 16 years old and ready for their learners license will also be interesting.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    I wonder, also, if the software is updated, whether that technically makes the "driver" into a different "person". Or, on the whole 'nother angle, if the personhood resides in the software, whether that means the same "person" is in all the different vehicles, and thus any demerits scored in any vehicle all accrue to the same "person", who would then be disqualified for a simple offence made hundreds of kilometers away.

    Clearly, the law is not designed for non-humans. Only in fantasyland is this good for driverless vehicles.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin, in reply to Moz,

    I would hope not to be considered an arse, as I was asking if this in fact was the case. Which it seems not. I shall report to Darpa for re-education.

    Ian, thank you for that vision of the future. I shall keep an eye on the newswires.

    Ben, please sign me up to your utopian transport newsletter. I do enjoy a good work of science fantasy and am intrigued what ideas you may come up with nest. If you are lacking ideas, consider the humble vacuum cleaner, then consider how fast a human could travel if he or she was the size of a dust particle and didn't mind fatal health outcomes.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Ben Austin,

    Hyperloop...

    ...consider the humble vacuum cleaner, then consider how fast a human could travel if he or she was the size of a dust particle and didn’t mind fatal health outcomes.

    I understand that London's Victorian underground railway has resulted in a sometimes fatal disease now known as Tube-berk-closeness...
    :- )

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    I understand that London's Victorian underground railway has resulted in a sometimes fatal disease now known as Tube-berk-closeness...
    :- )

    ...not to be confused with brucellosis, encountered mainly around Earl's Court?

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    ..speaking of 'Bruce-losers' ...
    - Tony Abbott is mourned in Australia...

    Whatever your feelings about Tony Abbott, the former prime minister did add colour to the Australian language and will be missed by the country’s wordsmiths.
    That’s the view of Oxford University Press boss Peter van Noorden, releasing the second edition of Australian National Dictionary — its first comprehensive update since 1988.

    NSFW - contains picture of Abbott (a bad) bod in togs!!

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Tony Abbott is mourned in Australia...will be missed by the country’s wordsmiths.

    Wordsmurfs, more like it. Going by their mealy-mouthed collection of bland "Australianisms", that lot couldn't get a soapy stick up a dog's bum.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood, in reply to Ben Austin,

    If you are lacking ideas, consider the humble vacuum cleaner,

    That's so century before last

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_railway

    As with pretty much any 1800's engineering, there was a Isambard Kingdom Brunel connection.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to David Hood,

    Attachment

    Isambard Kingdom Brunel connection.

    Kate Beaton's Brunel.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Attachment Attachment

    I’ll see your

    Kate Beaton’s Brunel.

    and raise you Sydney Paduas’ Brunel!!
    from Lovelace and Babbage

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Sydney Padua

    *Appreciated*

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

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