For the control freaks among us, being a passenger on a car journey can be a stressful experience. If handing control over to another person fills you with dread, brace yourself. In the not too distant future you could be giving responsibility for your vehicle over to a machine!
That’s the scenario that new technology from Google may deliver. Although it sounds like something from a film, they have developed self-driving cars which in testing have now covered 300,000 miles without a single accident.
The cars have driven themselves through a range of traffic conditions and could be a viable option on our roads within a decade. While they are designed to dramatically improve the driving experience and enable people to be more productive in their cars it is questionable as to what kind of reaction they will receive.
On the plus side, the biggest and most important benefit is safety. A car that can drive itself removes the risk of human error, complacecy or intentional rule breaking which will reduce the amount of accidents and injuries that we see. It is also likely that the technology will enhance the experience, reducing stress levels on a long journey, and for commuters dead time in the car could suddenly become productive.
However, this technology is likely to split opinion and on the minus side, many will question if the technology is safe and will be nervous of handing control over to a computer. Plus many of us actually enjoy cars and enjoy driving them so suddenly becoming a passenger will be a major change.
Earlier this year, Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles issued Google with a licence to test the cars on public streets. The department said, after conducting demonstrations on the Las Vegas Strip and in Carson City, that the car is “as safe – or perhaps safer – than a human”.
Despite this glowing review there will of course be people who resist this kind of technology. How successful it is will of course depend on the market reaction, but given the amount of technology and intelligence already in modern vehicles and that on many highly congested routes we already respond to variable speed limits, this does seem a logical next step.
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