Readers React: For safety’s sake, let’s take our time on driverless cars

To the editor: Years ago, during my hours-long commute, I often fantasized about my car being autonomous. A nap would have been especially welcome during the 40 minutes it took just to get through the East L.A. interchange. (“Putting ‘drivers’ in driverless cars is a smart safety measure,” editorial, Dec. 18)

Although autonomous cars will happen and will be great, I applaud the DMV’s draft regulations that will ease us toward that future by requiring that driverless cars still have a human behind the wheel.

Many issues remain, such as systems reliability (GPS is not 100% reliable — who’s driving when it fails?) and privacy (Google or the “autonomous car cloud” will know everything about your movements, the final chapter of “1984” writ).

Of greater concern to me is the adoption period. Driverless cars will be sharing the road with “driven” vehicles for many years to come. I can just see some of my fellow Angelenos “bullying” driverless cars into doing or not doing things because the algorithms don’t recognize rudeness.

Let’s take our time.

Leonardo Costantino, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Imagine if in 1900 the California Department of Agriculture issued permits for automobiles with gasoline drivetrains, but only if they were led by a horse. In effect, that is what the California DMV has done with its shortsighted decision now backed by The Times editorial board.

If safety is truly the concern, then it is the 3,000 Californians killed annually by human-operated motor vehicles that should first come to mind. It is unlikely that their relatives would support the same “caution” the editorial board urges.

The editorial says, “If it’s a little slower than tech advocates want, that’s OK.” We are not advocating for a new gaming app to entertain tech nerds, but rather a new transportation platform to keep all of us safe from the carnage we take for granted today.

Michael Granoff, Tenafly, N.J.

The writer is principal of Maniv Mobility, a venture capital firm that invests in driverless technology.

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