Cars that drive themselves””even parking at their destination””could be ready for sale within a decade, General Motors Corp. executives say.
GM, parts suppliers, university engineers and other automakers all are working on vehicles that could revolutionize short- and long-distance travel. And Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner will devote part of his speech to the driverless vehicles.
“This is not science fiction,” Larry Burns, GM’s vice president for research and development, said in a recent interview.
The most significant obstacles facing the vehicles could be human rather than technical: government regulation, liability laws, privacy concerns and people’s passion for the automobile and the control it gives them
That would create a legal mess in the event one of those cars crashed. I mean, who would be liable?
“Not I!” said the car owner, “I was taking a nap en route”
“Not I!” said the manufacturer, “The EPS needed to reboot”
“Not I!” said the Satellite control people, “We only provide directions so your point is moot.”
“Not I!” said the lawyers, “We’re just in it for the loot.”
The Driverless Car – a metaphor for the Anglican Communion.
Computer driven cars should be proven to reduce fatalities and injuries before being adopted. If they are proven to improve upon those endpoints, it is only a matter of time before it will be illegal for a human being to drive a car. Now, if they can implant a desire to reduce greenhouse emissions into the car of the future’s computer brain, then the cars may decide that it is too risky to the planet to drive to the market for your fresh bananas.
Maybe this is an idea whose time has finally come. I remember reading about automated highways in [i]Popular Science[/i] back in the ’50’s, A few years ago, the idea was actually tested along a stretch of I805 near San Diego. There was some sort of control mechanism buried in the pavement that sensors in the cars responded to. It would work under some highway conditions, like carpool lanes or long stretches of freeways with few interchanges, particularly in western states. Interstate 5 through the San Joaquin Valley might be a good place for one of these systems. It’s a hazardous route for two reasons: it’s so long and boring that drivers regularly take naps, and when Thule fog conditions are in effect, visibility is so limited that there have been huge pileups of vehicles who were following too closely. And how about some of the turnpikes in the east? It could work there, too.
I doubt any car can be made truly driverless, to the extent that a driver can feel free to take a nap. How will they deal with all the kamikaze deer that lurk in the woods just off our highways?
It could also be beneficial for older drivers who can’t drive at night or who are deemed otherwise incapable of operating a motor vehicle safely. They’d still be able to go where and when they want to go without having to depend on someone else to do their driving for them.