Thank you for reading my posts this week. If you happen to be Eugene Volokh or Ken Anderson, thank you in particular for making them possible. And if you were one of my thoughtful commenters, thank you for questioning and challenging; I have read your remarks with great interest. My goal in these posts was […]
Author Archive | Bryant Walker Smith, guest-blogging
Planning for the Obsolescence of Technologies Not Yet Invented
By Bryant Walker Smith, guest-blogging on October 4, 2013 6:50 pm in Automation, Drones (UAVs), Privacy, Regulation, Robotics, Self-Driving Cars, Torts
The automated motor vehicles that I have discussed this week are just one example of the remarkable technologies coming to our roads, skies, homes, and even bodies. A decade from now, we’ll marvel at how advanced these new products are. But a decade after that, we’ll marvel at how anachronistic they have become. Rapid technological […]
The Reasonable Self-Driving Car
By Bryant Walker Smith, guest-blogging on October 3, 2013 2:38 am in Automation, Regulation, Robotics, Self-Driving Cars
A common debate in many circles–including the comments on my posts here–is whether legal burdens, technical limitations, or consumer preferences present the greatest immediate obstacle to fully automated motor vehicles. (Fully automated vehicles are capable of driving themselves anywhere a human can. In contrast, the low-speed shuttles from my post on Monday are route-restricted, and […]
The Impact of Automation on Environmental Impact Statements
By Bryant Walker Smith, guest-blogging on October 1, 2013 6:06 pm in Automation, Energy, Environment, Regulation, Robotics, Self-Driving Cars
Since the 1950s, the Long Beach Freeway has linked the massive Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to, roughly, the rest of the continental United States. Because much has changed in trade and traffic since then, California’s relevant transportation authorities have decided that perhaps this freeway should change as well. The resulting Draft Environmental […]
Driverless Carts Are Coming Sooner Than Driverless Cars
By Bryant Walker Smith, guest-blogging on September 30, 2013 7:55 pm in Automation, Regulation, Robotics, Self-Driving Cars
I’m delighted to be spending this week committing overt acts in furtherance of the Volokh Conspiracy. Since joining Stanford in 2011, I’ve been studying the increasing automation, connectivity, and capability that promise to dramatically change our lives, institutions, and laws. My posts this week will focus on one key example: self-driving vehicles (or whatever you […]