
Ask HN: Convince me I should/should buy a self driving car 5 years from now - throwaway2016a
Hi hacker news, I&#x27;d like you to convince me why I should or shouldn&#x27;t by a self-driving car in 5 years.<p>Answers should address:<p>- Safety<p>- Fallibility of hard&#x2F;software (sensor failure, software coding errors, etc)<p>- Government and hackers being able to monitor and control vehicles<p>- Imperfect road infrastructure (faded lines, no signs, etc)<p>- Severe weather (especially snow and ice)<p>I won&#x27;t say which side I&#x27;m on. Just that I know many people on the other side of the debate and would love to see how HN news feels and perhaps get some ideas on how I can effectively debate them. The two types of people I know seem to either think they are inevitable or think they will &quot;never&quot; happen.<p>Edit: semantics... the question was more about whether or not it will be safe to buy one and will they be readily available in 5 years. Less so about whether or not a should buy one if they are available.
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projectramo
Don't buy one, rent. When cars are self driving it makes no sense to pay for
all the time you will not be using it. Cars will become services.

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throwaway2016a
Sorry, I did a poor job describing the question. I updated it.

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projectramo
The safety question is really empirical: statistically, are you safer in a
self-driving car or not. I believe that, even currently, self-driving cars are
statistically safer. (the main reason for this, btw, is that it drives slowly.
It doesn't exceed 25 mph or 30 mph. This will go up as it demonstrates
safety.)

Some risks -- other people -- are the same in either case. The difference in
risk is the driver.

But that answers the general question of safety. In your specific case, the
question might better answered by: how safe a driver are you?

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cjbprime
.. why not wait five years and see how they perform, and then buy one if
they're good? Why do we have to gamble on this?

