On Monday, May 9, 2016 at 8:13:19 AM UTC-10, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2016-05-09 1:15 PM, dsi1 wrote:
> > On Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6:00:08 AM UTC-10, Doug Freyburger wrote:
> >> sf wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Driverless cars are not as outrageous as some here seem to
> >>> think. Forget drunk drivers. It scares the bejebus out of me to
> >>> see creaky old people with their poor vision and slow reflexes
> >>> behind the wheel - but they want to remain independent, so
> >>> driverless cars are the way to go. Even Lyft will be
> >>> experimenting with the concept.
> >>
> >> Driver less cars now exist in small numbers. From here on out
> >> their number will grow steadily as their price falls. I figure
> >> 10ish years before I see them most days, 20ish years before most
> >> vehicles are driver less. There is still a career in truck driving
> >> for anyone who wants to not be at home, though the field will
> >> wither as the years move on.
> >>
> >> Driver less cars are not wreck free but they are closer than any
> >> human age group.
> >
> > I think most commercial long-distance haulers should mostly be driven
> > without humans. It would seem to be a safer and cheaper route. As far
> > as I know, robots don't need much sleep.
> >
> > My brother-in-law thinks that the commercial driver's school for
> > these big rigs are a scam and that the drivers aren't ready for the
> > road. I'm inclined to believe him.
>
> There are some credible driving schools. Schools can teach you a lot of
> stuff about safe driving, about weight distribution, stopping distances,
> air brake systems and gear shift patterns. The biggest problems most
> truck drivers have are the stress of keeping on schedule and dealing
> with the monotony. They work strange hours and run into a lot of bad
> traffic.
>
> There is also the problem of every increasing vehicle dimensions.
> Trailers us to be shorter and more manageable. Now most of them are
> 53ft. They are less maneuverable in city streets and they have a
> tendency to jack knife. It takes the air in the braking system longer to
> reach the back brakes than it does for the tractor's brakes, so when
> they have to brake hard the tractor brakes come on and there is a
> slight lag for the trailer brakes. Meanwhile, the tail is wagging the
> dog. The trailer is trying to maintain speed while the tractor is
> slowing, so it tries to pass.

That's what they're supposed to be teaching you in school. My brother-in-law said the school he went to were putting unqualified drivers out on the road. He said we should be afraid. He demanded a refund and got out of it.

OTOH, my brother tends to be a disruptive guy. He worked on a building construction site that for some reason, he considered unsafe so he quit and got out of there. The whole building collapsed shortly afterwards - killing a lot of workers. It's a famous video. Well, at least I know that he was dead right at least one time.