Autonomous Cars
Cadillac’s Vehicle-to-Vehicle communications technology shares vehicles’ locations, speeds, directions and traffic conditions up to nearly 1,000 feet away.
For automated – note, not “autonomous” – cars to become other than a technocratic curiosity, to make the concept functionally viable on a mass scale, it will be necessary to eliminate cars that aren’t automated. That’s because the whole point of automated (not autonomous – which means independent) cars is to collectivize transportation.
To regiment and control it.
Cars that are still entirely under the control of the person behind the wheel do not fit into this matrix. They are outliers, the vehicular equivalent of a voluntary income tax – and we can’t have that, either.
Hence the proposal that all new cars be capable of so-called “vehicle to vehicle” (V2V) communication. That they be fitted with the technology to constantly transmit and receive data about their direction, location, speed and so on.
That this be made mandatory – like air bags.
V2V is a critical step toward the replacement of autonomous cars with automated cars – which must be aware (like the Terminator) of their environment, of the other cars within a certain radius of their position at any given moment. This in order to anticipate the need to alter course or speed to avoid impacting another car.
Which the car will do – without any input from you.
For saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety, of course.
That is how it’s being presented – and it’s on that basis it will be force-fed to us. Including those of us who want nothing to do with it. Can you say rip tide?
About half of all new cars already have or offer (it’s not yet mandatory) automated braking and steering “assist.” The car decides it’s necessary to stop – and applies the brakes if you don’t.
It steers itself in the direction it thinks is right.
The fully automated and therefore no longer autonomous car will come standard with these things. And for the potential of this technology to be maximized, all cars must come standard with these things – as well as the V2V ability to constantly chatter with all the other cars in the immediate vicinity.
And – the really Big Thing – they will chatter with a central hive brain of some sort. Which will coordinate and control the whole enchilada. The central hive brain will be in constant contact with – and in constant control of – all the automated cars.
Via V2V.
It’ll be like having a cop with a two-way radio riding shotgun – only worse because it will be a Super Cop. A single, central all-controlling cop who cannot be dodged – much less bargained with.
He will control the speed and direction of all the cars under his supervision. Decide when you will move at all.
Lovely, yes?
Which brings up the issue of autonomous cars that do not have V2V capability. Or automated “safety” systems.
They aren’t subject to supervision – much less control. They are wild cards, under the control of the person behind the wheel. He can accelerate as he likes – and brake as he likes and when he decides it’s necessary to brake.
His direction is random. Only he and those he chooses to inform know where he is going – and how he gets there is up to him.
He can elect to ignore stupid/arbitrary traffic laws such as those forbidding perfectly safe U turns and right-turns-on-red.
And he can “speed.”
Super Cop does not like this at all.
Truly autonomous cars – that is, cars without V2V technology and not equipped with driver pre-empting automated driving technology – will have to be gotten rid of.
For saaaaaaaaaaaafety.
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