Law loosens rules for self-driving cars in Japan

I don’t trust anyone other than me to drive me!

The ministry has been testing a self-driving bus down here in Naha. It runs from the outlet mall to Naha Airport.

During the daytime it's not so bad, but and I mean a HUGE but here, when it is running during morning and afternoon rush hour, it causes traffic jams and is a ROYAL pain in the arse.

The posted speed limit on the road it travels is 50km, most of the time it is limping along at around 30km or less!

I was in a self driving golf cart at a course near Mt Fuji a few years back. It was very unnerving to see the empty cart drive itself to the putting green to pick us up for the next hole. My score was horrendous but the cart was fabulous!

While the new legislation eases restrictions, it still leaves Japan behind some other countries, where autonomous ride-share vehicles have been operating in limited areas.

as usual

Japan is hoping the 2020 Games will be a chance to showcase cutting edge tech projects in the country,

How exactly are they going to do that?? 2020 is only a year away.

but autonomous transport is also an important sector for a nation suffering labor shortages and a shrinking, ageing population.

absolutely. And yes, there may be a few accidents here and there with self drive, but its still ALOT safer than the eldery drivers we hear about nearly everyday.

With so many drivers talking on their cellphones or texting while driving, self-driving vehicles would be an option car dealers here would love to promote...

Teslas already drive better than some of the elderly you see in stories on here.

If you are gawping at a smartphone you are not prepared to immediately take control of the vehicle.

What happens if the self driving car takes you to where it wants to go rather than where you want it to take you? If someone hacks your computer you can walk away from it. Not so with a self driving car if some malicious entity has other plans.

Self driving cars are useless unless ALL vehicles on the road are self driving.

Whether it's public transportation on local roads or highways/freeways, or individually owned vehicles for personal use - barring someone buying one because they want the privacy of being alone in the vehicle but are too lazy to drive - if it's a mix of normal and self driving vehicles on the open road, you won't solve any sort of congestion or accidents, because people who drive will still drive poorly. You'd need all autonomous vehicles to get out of the mess we are all in on the roads nowadays.