AstroBoy Online Forums

What will they think up next? according to a TECHSPOT blog[?] dated 02/28, FORD has patented such a system that, when coupled with auto driving feature, can repossess a car. Intersting stuff, read it for yourself:


https://www.techspot.com/news/97762-ford-seeks-patent-repo-system-could-drive-car.html

While I can understand their willingness to get back cars from bad payers, I can see a ton of legal shenanigans about that. Most simple is the possibility that the bad payer inhabits an area with no transports nearby and ending up being stranded in the middle of nowhere (while at home, or why not while being parked at a gas station on a highway and the car just decides it is time to go home). More complicated: what if the car has an accident while auto-driving home? Is the owner responsible for giving the order to the car to auto-drive? Or the bad payer for "forcing" the owner to auto-drive the car? What if a software made the decision automatically? I can see a lot of fun between lawyers during a trial

Edit: I suppose you meant "repossession" in the title? Quite puzzling before reading

Oops! yes I did mean repossession. Can you fix it?

I went ahead and fixed the thread title.

Hmmm, Do I see a possible fan fiction story here? How about Atlas being employed as a car repossessor?

Then I guess no patent is needed: Atlas comes, blasts into oblivion the bad payer unless he manages to get away quickly enough, then just takes the car and drops it at the owner's garage (or not, he may choose to keep it though). Problem solved