It really defeats the purpose of satellite navigation if it stops to ask for directions all the time.

/Full speed ahead, and straight on 'til morning.

How long until you just plug an address in and let the computer drive your car?

damageddude: How long until you just plug an address in and let the computer drive your car?

I'd say less than a decade.

The Nagigator

Uakronkid: damageddude: How long until you just plug an address in and let the computer drive your car?

I'd say less than a decade.

I say 6 hours before someone hacks it and sends a few hundred cars into the nearest river.

How about The Nanny, as in, the Nanny State ?

Would that be the same type of "satnav" that recently lead a Polish driver into a Lake? (pops)

Well, it can't possibly fail, then.

I want a Rush Limbaugh guidance system.

Can't wait for a motorcycle version of this.

"LEAN ANGLE: PANIC PANIC PANIC"

"...will even be told at the end of the journey if they have caused undue stress to parts of the car."

Great, another way to void the warranty.

/or get a ticket, mark my words!

when to change gear won't be used much in the usa.
cut and paste the work of others

Year Automatic % Manual % Total
1985 10,021,482 77.6% 2,887,171 22.4% 12,908,653
1990 10,141,794 78.7% 2,752,150 21.3% 12,893,944
1995 12,816,559 83.1% 2,602,211 16.9% 15,418,770
2000 15,995,874 90.0% 1,785,377 10.0% 17,781,251
2001 14,898,961 90.6% 1,540,618 9.4% 16,439,579
2003 16,752,979 92.6% 1,335,531 7.3% 18,088,510
*Includes manual/automatic hybrids
Source: Ward's Communications

Will it tell you ...

"keep left unless overtaking"
"Look where you are going"
"Do not talk on your mobile while driving"
"Signal before changing lanes"

I hope this eventually leads to cars which can drive themselves

Would you just drive the car for once? JUST DRIVE THE DAMN CAR.

How about the Wifey State?

*ducks*

/ "I ain't been home since Friday night
And now my wife is coming after me

Give me police protection
Gonna buy a gun so
I can look after number one
Give me a bodyguard
A black belt Judo expert with a machine gun"

// The Who / Entwistle FTW

Wouldn't "The Wife" indicate a LARGE margin for error? Let's hope a satnav with those capabilities actually knows what it's talking about!

Horrible Horrible idea. I will never own one of those, at least not if I have any say in the matter. If it means sticking with a 20 year old car then that is what I will do. Having some silly voice command system direct your every move is not driving. Its little different from being a passenger. You might as well go ride the bus or something.

librarianne: Wouldn't "The Wife" indicate a LARGE margin for error? Let's hope a satnav with those capabilities actually knows what it's talking about!

A wife allowing for a margin for error? What planet do you live on?

FTA: "The systems... will present detailed three-dimensional images of the road ahead showing obstructions, gradients and narrow stretches"

I have one of those already in my car.

I call it the "windscreen".

I think a big advance would be to extend it past roads. Imagine having a PDA type device that would have an interactive map of a mall or big store, where you can find aisles and products plotted onto the map, which also tells you where you are. Or theme/amusement parks that also have a digital interactive map of the whole park that tracks you and give directions and such. Basically take the idea of road and store maps and focus it down a level to include the interior of buildings and what's inside those buildings.

Uakronkid: damageddude: How long until you just plug an address in and let the computer drive your car?

I'd say less than a decade.

And how long before it's mandated in law for all new cars to have this system?

I'd be interested to see what that would do to road safety.

I already know how fast to take a corner, and in what gear. This is why I bought 9" wide tires, and I am going to have fun with them as traffic permits. 30 mph left-hand turns in my car are nothing.

And any driving infractions will be relayed to the local police and your insurance company.

opiumpoopy: FTA: "The systems... will present detailed three-dimensional images of the road ahead showing obstructions, gradients and narrow stretches"

I have one of those already in my car.

I call it the "windscreen".

I know, but why do it with a piece of glass when you can get three computers and a goddamned satellite involved?

car babelfish

windscreen-windshield
hood-bonnet
gas-petrol
shock absorber-shock damperer
earth-ground
pickup truck-uve?
muffler-silencer-dampener
tyre-tire
wheel-hub
any more?

booboopowder: any more?

trunk-boot

Christ that sounds annoying as fark
Why not just plug it into the car's control unit and let it drive for you

Man driving is so hard I can't even talk on my phone,text,comb my hair,watch tv,eat,play with myself,pick my nose,stare at beautiful women,go to the bathroom, and make love while driving! When can I no longer worry about such barbaric things like acclerating,braking,steering, and defensivly driving.

DonnyBaker: The Nagigator

That already exists. It's called a wife. You might make a few dollars if you were to trademark your preferred name, but I doubt it. Someone would take offense (someone's wife), and then sue you for the paltry amount of money you ever made in the trademark.

ok subby I lol'd

My car is manual and already has a light to tell the driver when to shift.

On my 740i the computer senses my car's speed and stiffens up the front end accordingly. Allows for some pretty high speed/roll-free turns.

Ima4nic8or: Horrible Horrible idea. I will never own one of those, at least not if I have any say in the matter. If it means sticking with a 20 year old car then that is what I will do. Having some silly voice command system direct your every move is not driving. Its little different from being a passenger.

I'm still not seeing the downside. Less driving=less work. Buses are annoying because you have to go to them and wait for them and they're crowded and you have to wear pants.

I saw a commercial for the newest-fangled horseless carriage that boasted about the plethora of sensors built in. The question is now not if but when they will have booze and weed sniffing capabilities.

I think it sounds cool. It's like Batman's computer in the batmobile!

Harsh, submitter. In order to be equal to "The Wife", these new units would also have to be wrong in all the backseat driver advice they give.

PULL UP! [WHOOP, WHOOP!] PULL UP! [WHOOP, WHOOP!]

What the system may look like

Crosshair: Uakronkid: damageddude: How long until you just plug an address in and let the computer drive your car?

I'd say less than a decade.

I say 6 hours before someone hacks it and sends a few hundred cars into the nearest river.

That's why it'll never work, but I don't really think people hacking the cars of others will be a huge problem. If intelligent cars work like current computers and the internet, you'll be more likely to see the following:
1) Some jackass is still using the 10 year old car that doesn't have the self navigation feature. All the car manufacturers have to implement silly hacks to accommodate his inability to conform to more efficient traffic patterns.
2) Some jackasses will hack their own cars to break the rules and go faster. These hacks will cause accidents a small portion of the time, so car manufacturers will have to introduce even more hacks to make your car safely avoid the asshat hackers (in the end, incentivizing the hacking).
3) Idiots will drive their cars through bad neighborhoods with the windows rolled down. This will lead to their cars getting spyware that causes them to drive around on their own and traffic drugs/other illegal goods while their operator is not using them. I'll get calls from my mom every week complaining about her car all of a sudden "gets really bad mileage".

ultraholland: What the system may look like

Are you sure that isn't the look you get from the wife when you ignore her orders?

overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed. overspeed.

first they make the road side boring by putting up walmarts. Then they make this shiat, next they make it standard option, then they make it so you can't turn the bastard off, because some action group will claim it is unsafe to drive the old fashioned way . In a few years, people will say things like, "I can't drive with out a navigation system." Mean while, I am driving my old truck, getting where I need to go with a map, a stick shift, no cup holders and no accidents. Todays luxury option is tomorrows crutch for new drivers.

/I don't care what the satellite navigation device said. It's my lawn, not the highway. Get off it!

DingoTango: No T-shirt option on this one?

It seems that submitted headlines of four lines are right out. Long three-liners may also not have that option. Then there's the rare one-liner that too many people felt was objectionable, so no shirt option.

Ijustworkhere: On my 740i the computer senses my car's speed and stiffens up the front end accordingly. Allows for some pretty high speed/roll-free turns.

wow you are so cool, tool...there is a war on you know?

When I was using my TomTom in europe it kept beeping when I was exceeding the speed limit. The whole point of driving in eurpose is to exceed the speed limit.

/got 2 tickets
//so I can never rent from europecar again
///found the Tom Tom volume control toot sweet

"Drivers' uncritical reliance on their sat navs has led to a growing number of mishaps. Last year a woman wrecked her £96,000 Mercedes SL500 trying to drive across a swollen ford through the River Sence in Sheepy Magna, Leicestershire, after her sat nav told her it was a passable route."

Haha. 200k down the drain...er...river.

bigvicproton: Ijustworkhere: On my 740i the computer senses my car's speed and stiffens up the front end accordingly. Allows for some pretty high speed/roll-free turns.

wow you are so cool, tool...there is a war on you know?

huh? Just because there is a war we aren't supposed to have fun or talk about having fun? I really hope you were quoting a movie I haven't seen, because it looks like you are being a huge dickhead.

eno: When I was using my TomTom in europe it kept beeping when I was exceeding the speed limit. The whole point of driving in eurpose is to exceed the speed limit.

/got 2 tickets
//so I can never rent from europecar again
///found the Tom Tom volume control toot sweet

You know, you can just turn that warning off

Ima4nic8or: Horrible Horrible idea. I will never own one of those, at least not if I have any say in the matter. If it means sticking with a 20 year old car then that is what I will do. Having some silly voice command system direct your every move is not driving. Its little different from being a passenger. You might as well go ride the bus or something.

Because you totally can't just not use the GPS right?