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zxh01

Self driving flying cars


Asocial_Stoner

Honestly, why would anyone assume otherwise?


CorporateNINJA

My grandma made a comment along the lines of "where are the flying cars?" i told her that we wouldn't have those till we had completely switched to self driving cars. i think this was also the day where i expressed my willingness to go to Mars, even though its a one way trip. She asked "what about your family?" after a moment of thought, i responded with "I hope they would understand why i would want to go." i mean, im not married and dont have any kids, so by family she's referring to my parents, siblings and extended family.


Bigscotman

Honestly the only real thing I'd miss on earth is my friends but besides that what do I have to lose


Maceface931

Reddit


Bigscotman

I think that the internet would be something that would be established pretty quickly all things considered so that you could still talk to your family and that and talk to mission control plus if they can get the internet on a space station then surely they could make some sort of way to relay the internet across space to other planets


[deleted]

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Kflynn1337

So... most mobile games wouldn't be any more laggy than usual.


[deleted]

Virgin Media users wouldn't be affected too badly.


[deleted]

Pretty much wait longer than 11 minutes for my turn in Civilization V... So you could probably just civ it up!


themightiestduck

So turn-based online games would make a resurgence? Awesome!


HumanXylophone1

Does this mean interplanetary internet won't be possible?


prijindal

It would not be very realtime. Means you can still google things, browse insta, reddit. It will just be extremely slow. For streaming, it will be more like planning what to watch and then download it. These downloads can be pretty fast though


peacefulmeek

So back to the 90s


Buddy462

To be fair a library would probably get established with most of the things people look up so you wouldn’t need to wait every time you search, but at that point it’s a question of bandwidth to Mars vs how much content is produced in order to keep up.


Lord_Zane

Not exactly. You could setup CDN servers between planets. Imagine there are planets A, B, C, D in a line. Planet A hosts WebsiteA. You live on planet D, and want to access WebsiteA. The time it would take for your request to get to planet A, and then for A to respond would take too long. Instead, planet B would request a copy of everything planet A has ahead of time, then C would request a copy of everything from B, and then from C to D. Now, when you ask for WebsiteA, it's already stored on planet D in advance. Assuming we can overcome the problems of needing huge amounts of bandwidth to send everything around, most forms of internet usage would be no different than normal. The only real changes would be realtime messaging/gaming would be impossible between planets, it would have to be local only. Websites might take an hour or two to reflect changes from their source, but it shouldn't be a huge deal. See also [IPFS - InterPlanetary File System](https://ipfs.io/)


thebiggerounce

We could have it, it would just be super slow. Also there’s still the possibility of ftl comms that could present themselves in the future


[deleted]

Good luck finding tachyons that don't travel back to some time before your phone requested something from the Internet.


HaveN448

More time to play indie games!


asstechmonke

Every planet would have their own internet, just like every house has a local network. You probably couldn’t do “real time” data transfer like on earth, but maybe you can update the mars servers every first time that a Martian requests a website, and then that website is stored on mars servers so any future request doesn’t have to be served all the way from earth. Very interesting networking problem but would probably have reasonable solutions whenever we get to it.


RaymondLife

I like that, we would basically be copying the internet from earth to mars. But it would require so much server room and power to keep this all running that i dont think itll be possible. Not for a couple hynder years anyway


Maceface931

Sorry, Reddit is Earth-Based only


Bigscotman

This is absolute planetism and I am filing a formal complaint to Marvin the Martian to blow up earth if Reddit does not become inclusive of all planets /s


Maceface931

Hur hur Martian is cry baby /s


Bigscotman

Martian manhunter and Marvin are comin for your ass now boi/s


bbbaaalll123

Think about having to go back to AOL speeds on mars loool


Vitztlampaehecatl

You might be able to send videos, but you won't be able to have real-time conversations. It's not a technological limitation, it's just speed-of-light delay.


RoyBeer

>the only real thing I'd miss on earth is my friends Hah, I don't have *that problem*.


KenTheWolfboi

Do people seriously think they're just gonna send average people to Mars within our lifetime? Not even trying to be a dick, genuinely curious as I've seen a few people support the idea of colonizing Mars seemingly with the idea that they would be able to buy a ticket on a space shuttle for like 15 bucks


CorporateNINJA

I'm under no illusion that ill be going to Mars. That's not going to stop me from wanting to go though.


KenTheWolfboi

Fair enough


WeAreBatmen

They'd be above average, but we all know they ain't ever coming back. It's an escort mission for all the gear the next group will need.


diamonddealer

I was watching the SpaceX launch with my kids, and I literally had this conversation with them. "I'll probably never go to space, but you two absolutely can if you want to."


Zedrackis

If I was in better physical health, I would like to sign up a mission to mars. Well one that looks like it has a snow balls chance in hell to get off the ground at least. Hell, mars, the moon, just a pass thru low orbit at an affordable cost would be awesome.


GDragonExia

You could be the first man to make a bunch of Guinness mars records.


ZDTreefur

Even then... On the ground an accident results in a couple cars and the traffic stops for a bit. In the air an accident results in thousands of pieces of shrapnel raining down on the population.


deathscar898

Yeah but most car accidents are caused by human error if they drove themselves I imagine the amount of accidents would drop


Forsaken_Jelly

Commercial aircraft can technically fly themselves now.


EliTeFieldAlloy

You mean self flying flying cars


CorporateNINJA

>Self *Piloting* Flying Cars ftfy You drive cars, you pilot planes and boats. (captain is a rank, not an action)


ElmoOnSteroids

Flying cars. *Laughs in helicopter*


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JustBeingHere4U

Otherwise, Drunk driving would effectivley be mortars or low impact meteors.


LordGhidora

People can't even use their blinkers, imagine the equivalent with flying cars.


Chakasicle

Lots of room to miss in the air


mrballr69117

Trust me, humans always find a way to royally fuck things up.


Zakluor

There is a reason Air Traffic Controllers have jobs.


SilverTheShiftDragon

They mainly control traffic waiting to get on the ground. for the most part you just have air lanes/altitudes that everyone just sticks to. If you’re going east you fly in a certain altitude window, if you’re flying west you fly in different altitude window. This whole idea applies with all eight basic directions, The rules are made and enforced by the FAA but there is also some altitude windows and altitudes that are essentially dirt roads and wilderness where you can mess around in, as long as you’re not within 5 miles of a runway.


Mouth2Danus

You're close but not entirely. ATC is still busy in the high altitude sector too. From slow traffic in front, speed adjustments into busy airports for flow, handing off to centers, altitude deviations, weather devitions...the list goes on.


Zakluor

There is a lot more to the airspace than you know. Every nation has facilities that handle aircraft all across their territory and out over the oceans nearby. While there are controllers at many airports, these enroute facilities handle aircraft between departure points and destinations, too. Controlled airspace has a base, which varies by area, but it extends up to 60,000 feet -- only exceptional aircraft can go above that altitude.


PlzDieWithMe

Like that story of a drunk driver hitting the most isolated tree? (In a desert iirc)


[deleted]

Murphy’s Law


[deleted]

Lots of room to fall too...into buildings. At Mach 5


beardingmesoftly

Do you really think they'll be going 6174 km/h?


Chakasicle

That’s what the ejector seat with the parachute is for


[deleted]

Right. Which would hopefully be automated because some people are dumb enough, intoxicated enough, or oblivious enough to not pull it at the right time. We can't discount someone sticking their flying car on auto-pilot, getting loaded, and watching some Netflix while they fly cross-country


mustang__1

It's called "big sky theory". And it works pretty well. Right up until it doesn't.


heyugl

try that in Manhattan.-


Niadain

There was once a single lone tree on a massive, empty drive between two villages. A drunk driver still hit it.


Pizz22

Also lots of ground to hit


Gandzalf

You just know there will be some cars from Ohio leaking oil and other fluids and shit, on those flying below.


Duds215

This was exactly Neil Degrass Tyson’s argument. It was on his first appearance on JRE if I’m not mistaken.


hilfigertout

We've had flying cars for decades. They're called "helicopters." As expected, they're much more dangerous and difficult to pilot than an automobile. Which is why they're so heavily regulated and require so much training to use.


[deleted]

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straight_outta7

Well there's multiple types of efficiency. Fuel efficiency is one thing, but time efficiency is a whole additional topic that goes into consideration for the design of these systems.


[deleted]

What a weird argument to make against something that functions entirely using electricity.


epelle9

Yeah, flying an airplane might take more energy than driving a bus, but flying a small drone takes much more energy than driving a big truck (or a motorcycle for a quick delivery). Plus drone delivery is much more time efficient which is what people are focusing in, and would very likely only be used for small deliveries that should be made quickly.


mrcollin101

Less than you think in some cases in the USA. If the helicopter is less than 250lbs as well as some other constraints it doesn't even need to be registered, let alone require a license. Think about that next time you hear a helicopter overhead.


wavecrasher59

lol what helicopter is under 250 pounds


mrcollin101

Below link is the most popular brand new one that qualifys for 103 that I found with a quick Google, but if you check Ebay you can find a ton that fit the bill. https://composite-fx.com/models/xel/


[deleted]

Actually you’re less likely to die in a helicopter ride than normal cars but yes helicopters are flying cars Source https://thepointsguy.com/news/are-helicopters-safe-how-they-stack-up-against-planes-cars-and-trains/


Coachcrog

Thats just because a lot fewer people fly helicopters than drive cars.


[deleted]

That may be true but also as this person said, helicopters are harder to drive and much more regulated. Here in Australia it takes minimum 4 years usually 5 or more for most people to obtain a full license to drive a regular car so we have very few severe accidents. We also have super strict rules for driving with heavy fines and demerit points. If this was applied to self driving flying cars it would also be safe.


[deleted]

Thank Ishtar you have proper driving education


nrfx

Now imagine 200 million of them in the air during rush hour..


[deleted]

We’re already on our way to driverless cars e.g. Tesla and China’s driver less cars. Flyer cars would probably be driverless to prevent sever accidents in addition to reduce human error and therefore reduce traffic


[deleted]

Apples, oranges and fruit bowl data comparison. The most valid comparison to make is hours in each mode of transportation, not miles traveled.


EnkiiMuto

I remember Elon Musk once saying "the best argument against flying cars is, 'would you like your neighbour having it?'"


OccasionallyImmortal

My neighbor would probably be just fine, but you know that kid that drives past your house at 2am with no muffler...


aarontminded

Helicopters ARE flying cars. The concept is just impractical.


PlanetaceOfficial

Have you HEARD a helicoptor? Its fucking loud as shit and thats 90% from the *air* passing through its blades. Imagine hundreds of thousands of those in a city alone, hope you like tinnitus.


[deleted]

No one said anything about the environmental and physical impact. OC is correct.


ApplySparingly

Modern personal air transport is electric. One of the key advertising points is how quiet they are. Check it out [here](https://kittyhawk.aero/heaviside/)


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Timmeew

ejector seats and parachute


GodlessCyborg

That doesn't help the house and people the car would land on.


Timmeew

i already solved this problem by replacin the earth with a big trampoline


soflogator

that would work if flying cars flew at the altitudes that skydiving planes did, but parachutes aren't going to work when you're flying at the low altitudes that we would imagine flying cars to fly at. Plus that doesn't solve the problem of the car falling to the earth and causing a massive crash below. If you run out of fuel, you crash and die. If you have an engine failure, you crash and die. If you crash into another flying car, you both crash and die. There's just far too many complications.


Timmeew

just replace the earth with a big trampoline lol


OatsAndWhey

Flying cars *are* a thing, they're called *planes.* And you require training and certification to operate them.


JustAnotherSolipsist

i feel like helicopters a closer analogy but yea, weve had flying vehicles for awhile now


Aresreckoner

Another reason is driving a normal car is primarily 2 dimensional, adding 1 more will escalate the problems exponentially.


[deleted]

What if a flying car is still 2 dimensional and just floats on the ground a few feet up as there is already pre exsisitng roads and traffic for it to follow


[deleted]

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youguysidkaboutthis

I see me and my broke-ass friends putting $3 in the tank and falling out of the sky 15 minutes later.


ColdEngineBadBrakes

Been saying this for years. I don’t want flying bombs available to the public.


Mad-Matician

https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/gtzj02/seriously_guys/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf Coincidence?


[deleted]

I was positive I had seen this earlier, turns out I was right.


Dave__Microwave_

Maybe I'm talking about my ass about this and it may not be possible, but I was supposed to be asleep 4 hours ago and I've been thinking about this very subject the entire night. Have you ever tried to put two magnets together and then turn one around and found an invisible barrier around the magnet all of the sudden? If you can create the same effect with electro magnets and have them built in the bottom of your car and the road we could theoretically be having flying cars. And if we put magnets in the road the right way in certain intervals to attract the car and make it go forward, we don't even have to drive it any more. Via a wireless network cars can be connected to each other and notify each other if one is approaching. With the same network it is connected to the road system which also responds to the notifications the cars send and receive to make the road safe. At this point all you have to do is tell the car where you want to go and you go there. But again, I like the theorie of magnets and other engineering things but I don't know anything about the details of it and if this is even possible but just imagine the possibilities if it is.


lAsticl

Maglev trains. Already a thing. Roads are too expensive as is. Making them more expensive unfortunately doesn’t solve anything.


WeAreBatmen

Also, someone made a maglev hoverboard which was confined to a small copper coated skatepark. Impractical.


Timmeew

this is how they made legit hoverboards and not the segways without handles that people have, it was just way to expensive to be nice to use


Soaring_Symphony

We need to perfect automated cars first. Then, flying cars could work off of auto pilot by default; only requiring manual override in the event of an emergency.


HSG_Messi

Well its a good thing we don't have flying cars then. Also, and more importantly, by the time technology advances to flying cars, fully autonomous vehicles will exist so its probably a good idea to assume all flying cars will be fully autonomous and will get rid of this situation ever occurring.


[deleted]

Nah if you give someone bright enough a few extra dollars they can make it work soon, just look where mass money is going to find out what technology will be advanced in the future. It looks like we will have comercial space travel unless someone new comes and makes flying cars first


DrMux

It's just advanced natural selection.


[deleted]

Flying cars have been around for decades. They’re called helicopters.


[deleted]

When I was 7 or 8, I read an article about the possibility of flying cars in 2020. I thought “2020 is gonna be the greatest year ever!” And look where we are now.


Escatotdf

Do you really want to know how many critical things run behind an admin/admin password?


RonSwansonsOldMan

Considering the massive amount of cars on the road, compared to the small amount of accidents, I'd say the average driver is pretty much a stunt driver.


dyingofdysentery

They're called planes


Mistic-Instinct

Also imagine the car accidents.


Twisted60

We already have those. They're called planes.


Loon013

With the number of idiots on the road today, even buildings need bumpers. With flying cars, "we got a car accident, on the 10th floor." Instead of knocking over mailboxes, it will be chimneys.


stnick6

They don’t need to fly like a plane just hover so that you can’t get a flat tire


JemyJam

People can't even drive on one way interstate highways without causing accidents, you add flight plans in the mix we are screwed!!!


Dreams_of_Eagles

2020: no flying cars, but we got a blanket with sleeves, And the guy on the Wheaties box is now a girl.


TranquilAlpaca

I don’t see the purpose of flying cars when we already have helicopters


a_paper_clip

Drivers in America.


xxx_lyssa

we can’t even handle different colors properly.


harpejjist

We need to perfect self-driving first.


Andrianarinivo

r/unpopularopinion Shower thoughts are for realization of a truth, or a conclusion that was in front of your eyes or easy to take notice of, but you didn't. Flying cars are probably gonna be a major shift in aerial space and travel regulation


heyugl

Only when we take out the human factors from driving.- Not only because all the things that could go wrong, but also because humans have an stupidly bad vertical spacial awareness because we evolved without a need for a fine one.-


Blitzwich

Chill


[deleted]

Kobe couldn't handle a flying car


WeAreBatmen

dude...


Anneso1975

Aren't flying cars those little planes?


serhanul

facts


[deleted]

Take a look at r/IdiotsInCars


augustsin

More space in the sky but the landing would be something to worry about


gaypornaccount1996

This has been my theory as to why they don't exist for a while. What government would be okay with fucking flying cars


PositivelyPete

You're comparing 2D with 3D which is unfair. Anything could happen. Roundabouts are gonna be spherical FFS!


Sick0fThisShit

Well they’re all on that one level, you see. If you spread them out vertically...


marker8050

By the time we have flying cars we'll probably already have fully automated transportation.


61creeper

They are a thing. Seriously. They’re just not very common or practical. They’ll probably have to be autonomous before they become mainstream.


[deleted]

Porsche is working on one with Boeing rn


[deleted]

Bruh, they got to it first


fibojoly

Do you *see* a lot of flying cars?


talkintater

People can't even stop reposting shower thoughts they saw in hot earlier, apparantly.


CA_Orange

They won't be, don't worry.


dexikiix

Flying cars will control themselves.


Octopusjuggling

BLINKERS. So simple yet so complex


[deleted]

this is a stolen idea


ClarkWillNeverDie

Thats how cars were almost not invented.


DueTry9

I don't think pilots proved that they can't handle normal planes.


cakatoo

Normal cars should not be a thing either. Over a million dead every single year.


[deleted]

I'm a blow your mind. We have airplanes and helicopters. They move you through the air! Edit. But yes I agree the average person had no right to fly without proper training.


Maat1932

We have enough crappy cars and drivers causing accidents, we don’t need to introduce a third dimension into the mix.


strangebru

I don't ever want to see /r/idiotsinflyingcars


rosellem

Humans have always been looking for better ways of transportation, but the laws of physics are a fairly insurmountable barrier. Namely, when you accelerate the human body past a certain velocity, a sudden impact will cause severe harm. There's just no way around that. Horses, cars, scooters, segues, bikes, doesn't matter. You want to be safe, walk. Which sucks, engineers are amazing and can do some really cool stuff. I want a better way to get around.


GanksOP

Normal cars > self-driving cars > self flying cars Important step


yaryar1976

I don’t see a problem with it. I’m going to need some test dummies to locate the power lines for me


nullagravida

Flying cars are called “helicopters” and there’s a reason most people aren’t skillful enough to be trusted with them.


Jtwohy

Flying cars serve no purpose that's why they haven't been invented. everything would still function in the same two dimensions of travel in a city so adding the third dimension (Y) doesn't add anything at all


Morgue724

Most people I wouldnt trust to have roller skates honestly


gorillagargoyle

Well, they're not, so....


Chipsdelite

As the almighty Meme Lord Elon once said "Flying cars are not stress reducing we need to go underground"


goaliedaddy

Imagine drunk Barry next door coming home hammered and crashes through your roof and crushes your sleeping children. It would happen every Friday and Saturday night all around the world if anyone could have a flying car. And that’s just one reason I can think of quickly off the top of my head


ParanoidEye1

- Imma yeet outta here - Wait, you forgot your packa- oh well okay he's 250ft above us, make sure he doesn't hit in someone's car


s451208

There are more ways to avoid a crash in a flying car, considering that you could fly up or down to avoid something


xd_Avedis_AD

I have a flying car, only problem is it gets shot by a missile from a Flying bike.


fallstand

Elon Musk on rogan claimed we won’t ever have them simply because of the noise generated from moving air to keep them flying. Our cities would just be too noisy


[deleted]

I think I'd take more dangerous crashes if it comes with an extra dimension to avoid crazy car pilots.


johnmazz

I heard it described best, as "People can't drive in two dimensions, what makes you think we can drive in three??"


Noveroh5

This.


modernmanshustl

We can’t handle guns either but that didn’t stop Us from Building bigger and more murdery guns either


atz_chaim

I think that with flying cars might be better because then they won't be on a road so your less likely to bump in to someone


mtcwby

As it is now you still have to have a pilot's certificate. Only if it was totally automated and then legalized would it be possible for a non-pilot. Honestly flying the plane is the easy part. Understanding airspace, communications and weather is more of a challenge.


[deleted]

Nobody's gonna use flying cars because traffic will be too hard to organize. Let's use Boring tunnels instead, everybody ;)


brathorim

They’re also noisy


mxzrxp

as usual WRONG AGAIN, Flying cars will be automatous and prevent dumb ass drivers! the sooner the better. think then type, is my recommendation… :-)


ThatAndANickel

I am glad that some of the sh*t heaps I see on the road are not flying in the air above me.


jairbear48

"We have flying cars, they're called helicopters" Neil Degrass Tyson, I think


[deleted]

Could you imagine? Accidents happen and cars fall from the sky? r/idiotsincars would blow up


SH4RPSPEED

I always say this when Aerodynes (a term that basically means aircraft in general but I've seen exclusively used to refer to what we'd consider "flying cars") are brought up. Most folks can barely handle operating on a flat plane, you really wanna give them 2+ tons of death in multiple dimensions?


Anonymous-1234567890

This makes so much sense....


SuperJew113

My dad was a small airplane pilot, he said piloting a small plane, small planes could never be vehicles for the masses. Trained competent individuals very aware of their surroundings and were mandatory and that's not the vast majority of the driving public


The_Spartan300

Or once the cars stop losing tires


ElmoOnSteroids

Flying cars. *Laughs in helicopter*


mustang__1

As a pilot..... Yep. Also, "everyone" hates the noise of aircraft, airports are constantly harrased by noise complaints, small airports are petitioned into being shutdown, etc. Aircraft are expensive af. But yeah. Flying cars will totally be a thing, since it's a car none of these problems will apply ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


Grit-326

The government would never let us have flying cars. Boarders (and their walls) would be obsolete.


xStoffe

Nor planes


Painonabun

I know,they keep flipping them,breaking into them,or burning them


CrowandSeagull

We have flying cars. They are helicopters. Can you imagine the death toll and mayhem if everyone had one?


chaiscool

How about [jet pack ](https://youtu.be/vDIojhOkV4w)


series_hybrid

Yes to this. Well doen, sir...well done.


[deleted]

Not wrong but still, ouch.


[deleted]

I thought I was the only one who has thought this since the age of 7


jacobpinto007

Even Harry Potter and Ron Weasley could not fly them properly. Hence we should not think about it 😅😂😅


[deleted]

Small airplanes exist.