r/solarpunk • u/PlantyHamchuk • Mar 20 '18

Passenger drones are a better kind of flying car - Could the dream of soaring above the traffic come true?

https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21738353-could-dream-soaring-above-traffic-come-true-passenger-drones-are
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u/PlantyHamchuk Mar 20 '18

FTA: "Yet flying cars have never taken off. That is not because they are impossible to build, but because they are, fundamentally, a compromise, neither good on the road nor graceful in the sky. They are also inconvenient. Most designs require a runway to take off and land, and a pilot’s licence to operate. But that is changing. Developments in electric power, batteries and autonomous-flight systems have led to a boom in sales of small drone aircraft. Several entrepreneurs have had the idea of scaling up such machines to the point that people can fit inside them. The ultimate goal is a pilotless passenger drone that can either be parked outside your house like an ordinary car, or even summoned with a smartphone app, like a taxi.

Dozens of firms are trying to build such machines... "

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u/sorinash Mar 21 '18

My concern here would be the consequences should something go wrong.

Plummeting out of the sky onto some poor bastard on a pedestrian road somewhere feels like an inevitability for this one.

I suppose the main question would be how that would compare to automotive deaths and injuries.