We recently covered the fact that the Queen’s Speech for 2016 featured a Transport Bill that would help automated cars take the next step. You can read that article here: http://www.cararticles.co.uk/uk-a-driverless-future-for-cars.html. We would like you ask you though what your feelings are about automated driving?
It’s a fact of life that with every new car, a safety feature is added or more electronics are built in, all to try and keep passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, those in blind spots etc that little bit safer. Most drivers don’t even realise that little innovations such as getting rid of a physical key plugged in to the ignition (it can cause severe leg injuries in a collision) and adding a push button start is about safety.
Autonomous driving of our cars will be worthless without all of the necessary safety features built in, which is why it will take so long to reach the ‘fully automated’ goal. But, as the saying goes, Rome was not built in a day. Lane departure warning systems were first introduced on trucks – they are now ever present on new cars. Whilst it won’t stop you from departing lane, it definitely makes you aware!
Each new feature takes us away from the core driving function a little bit, allowing machines to do our thinking and where necessary our reacting too. Take for example Volkswagen’s Emergency City Braking – this is not a holiday away but a collision avoiding system. The car uses a laser sensor to detect something in front and will break accordingly at less than 18 miles per hour. This reduces the level of risk and mitigates driver distraction to a degree.
Ultimately, we at Car Articles quite like the idea of totally autonomous cars. If every vehicle was set up as such and they were all on a network talking to each other, cars should be able to travel more quickly, more safely. Instead of sitting frustrated behind the wheel, a commuter could get in the back, relax and browse Facebook. Your personal car becomes your personal cabbie, without the need for the dreaded “What time do you finish?” banal chatter.
We may be a long way off at present day, but every new safety feature is one step closer.
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