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Aussie Transport Minister Knocks “Kangaroo” Down Under Dummy 'roo has the stuffing knocked out of him

It may be just a fake kangaroo, but when South Australia Transport Minister Stephen Mulligan ran over the unsuspecting critter with his self-driving vehicle (SDV) recently, its cries could be heard all over the internet (see the full story and video here). Apparently the automatic braking system failed to operate properly, causing a collision with… Read More »

Featured Article

Rio Tinto Breaks New Ground With Pioneering Self-Driving Technology

Mining Giant’s “Mine of the Future” in Australia Integrates Truck, Train Automation Autonomous trucks at Rio Tinto’s Pilbara mine, Western Australia Source: Financial Review, www.afr.com. Photographer: Christian Sprogoe Say “iron mine” and chances are you don’t think hi-tech and sci-fi innovation, but even a brief look at Rio Tinto’s mining operations in Western Australia will change that perception right… Read More »

Featured Article

The Dark Side of Self-Driving Cars

Whether you call them driverless cars, self-driving cars, autonomous vehicles, or just SDVs (self-driving vehicles), it seems that everyone from Google’s Sergey Brin to Tesla chief Elon Musk  – is  singing the praises of this new and exciting technology. And it’s easy to see why: Cut highway deaths by an estimated 93%; allow the handicapped,… Read More »

The Guardian Correctly Predicts the First Self-Driving Fatality Eerily-Accurate Prediction of the Tragic Death of Joshua D. Brown

On Tuesday of this week, in an article in The Guardian, Martin Robbins explained that statistically, we are ripe for the first fatality in a self-driving vehicle. Apparently we now know that this accident has already occurred, almost two months ago, as announced by the US National Highway Safety Transportation Administration in an article in… Read More »

Yom Kippur in Israel — Day Without Cars

This evening is the beginning of the one-day festival of Yom Kippur, celebrated by Jews all over the world. In addition to being a day of fasting, reflection and atonement for sins, here in Israel Yom Kippur has an additional dimension: No driving in most of the country. Since the Yom Kippur War Started as… Read More »

Driverless Cars: The Backlash Begins

Hailo driverless cars, sdv, self-driving cars, protests

Hailo Protests Plans for UK Investment in Self-Driving Technologies In a swipe against the impending future of driverless transport, taxi app Hailo has sponsored protests in London recently against a city without cabdrivers. As Hailo CMO Gary Bramall said, “People don’t want robots; they need to know that their driver will get them from A to B… Read More »

Chevy’s FNR: Self-Driving Wonder Car

Autonomous, Electric, Wireless Charging — What’s Not to Like in GM’s Newest Concept Car? Shanghai — not Detroit — was the venue for the recent announcement by General Motors of their new concept vehicle, the Chevrolet FNR. In a critical acknowledgement of China’s rising importance in the autonomous vehicle market, the new self-driving supercar is… Read More »

Hyundai to Offer Self-Driving Car in 2020

            Fully Automated Cars in 2030 South Korea’s Hyundai Motor recently said some of the company’s cars would be capable of driverless operation by 2020. Hyundai is the latest auto manufacturer to claim an interest in commercializing self-driving cars, with many of the major automakers already boasting that they are… Read More »

Mercedes S-Class 2015 Coupe — Self-Driving You Can Buy Today

On the road and ready to go, the Mercedes-Benz S-class 2014/2015 has been out there for more than a year and is leading the pack in near-driverless technologies. “Near-driverless” is of course an imprecise term, but here’s an excerpt of the definition of Level 3 autonomous vehicles from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway… Read More »

Government Funding for Self-Driving Cars on the Rise US, UK Put Cash on the Table -- Huge Investment Gap for Other Countries

How important is government funding for self-driving cars? The answer from the Obama administration is apparently “Very!” With the recent US announcement of a proposed $4 billion budget for the planning and development of self-driving vehicles, the ante has been raised in the international quest for autonomous transportation. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, the huge US treasury… Read More »

China’s Baidu Soon to Market a Self-Driving Car

Baido autonomous car

      Another self-driving car is soon to hit the market. China’s Baidu looks to be following the footsteps (tread marks) of Google in the self-driving arena confirmed Baidu’s CEO, Mr. Li, recently. The self-driving car is expected to hit the road sometime in the next 12 months.