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Car companies can already remotely disable vehicle functionality if payments aren't made on time (disabling heated seats comes to mind). It isn't beyond the realm of possibility for a self driving truck to repossess itself to the nearest facility.
This is an absolutely bonkers idea though. What if there is a child inside when the vehicle decides to repo itself?
Ford has already patented the concept of a car repossesing itself if you fall behind on payments.
If my car drives away without me, it's not repossessed. It's just straight up demonically possessed.
Thanks, that made me laugh enough to wake the cat. :)
I think that's a fair feature, though. Much less risky than having a repo guy deal with a pissed off human.
I can see certain benefits, but as the parent poster mentions, what happens if there's a child on the car, or, indeed, you've left something else important in it when it drives off. Surely it's better for it just not to start, and keep a human in the loop for returning it.
Won’t somebody think of the financial institutions?!?
....nah! That'd delay us repurposing it for more $$profit$$
I'd imagine that truly self driving cars will have occupancy sensors in them (they only cost a few dollars), and that you could collect your belongings from the dealer.
It's not like the system is just going to randomly drive off without any warning, likely for the reasons you stated.
I can see them having occupancy sensors after the first lawsuit, but before then I'm not so sure. Collecting your belongings from the dealer could also be problematic; you no longer have a car, and the dealer could be a significant distance away. It'd be even worse if you happen to have driven the car far from home and no longer have a way to get back.
I suspect, and hope, they only patented it so they were tge ones with the patent, not to actually implement it.
It will absolutely be a thing once truly autonomous cars exist.
But, by the time the number of self driving cars reaches a significant portion of the vehicles on the road, owning a car will likely be on its way out in favor of subscription/fee services. That is if they're ever sold in the first place.
Why own a or maintain a car when you can have one pick you up in a few minutes?