re: U.S. consumers buck investors' rush to self-driving cars : study

Definitely. Why would insurance companies need to settle for a pittance slinging comp and collision when they could be bringing in the big bucks selling "My car just got hacked/went crazy" insurance?

kinda how I feel about it. Googles car has the ability to adjust for non automated cars but I still don't see the technology being adopted by most people for a good 25 to 30 years. Hopefully I am wrong.

and I can promise people aren't going to give up classic cars nor street racing. Not going to happen.

I actually participated in the survey for this. I put down that I was all for it. I would love for it to take over in rush hour so I can relax and to help lower insurance rates due to some many idiots on the road. It would also be great on long trips. For the rest of the time I would prefer to drive myself as I actually enjoy driving.

There are many people who enjoy driving. Would older vehicles be banished? One of my favorite things to do is just cruising.

My girlfriend's dad has a Tesla S and that thing already practically drives itself. It's a little strange to think about but I look forward to self driving cars.

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As the article notes, GM has invested $1 billion in acquiring a driverless technology startup.

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and Ford has a partnership with Google to manufacture them

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I imagine the push back will be from insurance companies more so than manufacturers

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They'll still be needed though, at the minimum for comprehensive type stuff. Additionally, even if your car prevents you from running into objects, it can't do a damn thing about an object running into you.

That is my biggest "gripe" with automated cars - the AI and its priorities. Will it prioritize all human life equally or will it specifically focus on the safety of the occupants in the vehicle? Even more specifically, will it prioritize within the vehicle (children take priority over adults, etc.)?

Will the AI drive onto the sidewalk to avoid an accident, or will it calculate that the lowest overall risk of human injury is to stay the course and injure the occupants instead of bystanders? What will it do when an idiot runs a red light?

Not many of us can make a conscious decision quick enough to decide those things ourselves, but subconsciously it happens often. The idea that people will give up control in that minute instance to an algorithm seems a bit naïve.

It is a scary proposition to say the least. Perhaps that makes me a selfish a-hole, but in a moment of life or death, I'd prefer my instincts and subconscious over that of an algorithm. I think it is pretty clear that if this happens for the mainstream that the AI will prioritize public and overall safety over those of the occupants of the car.

Even if you flip the scenario around, it is still worrisome. What if the safest thing to do is to run over a pedestrian instead of trying to avoid her? What if "her" is a 4 year old?

People like to shun those who are cautious about automated vehicles but they've go no answer for these types of questions because they're not even asking them. All they see is a chauffeur and the ability to sleep on the way to work, and I don't blame them, but there are serious issues at play too. As I said earlier, I think an automated lane or two on the interstate or major highways is plausible in the next 15-20 years, but widespread automated vehicles in a neighborhood or driving down main street are farther away than people think, at least IMO.

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U.S. consumers still resist the notion of self-driving cars

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Which consumers are those?