Google last week announced it has been test driving a group of 6 driverless cars in California, clocking up a whopping 140,000 miles in specially adapted vehicles with trained drivers and engineers monitoring to ensure no nasty accidents. The specially adapted vehicles of course made use of Google's mountain of data of the terrain, which has been captured and utilised in Google Earth and Google Maps.
It's an exciting development and something I've been watching for some time. The idea first came to my attention when BT published it's Futurology survey in 2005, predicting the use of such vehicles by the armed forces in 2015, with domestic use to follow 10-15 years later.
Turns out, though, that the idea of driverless cars are nothing new. Japanese automotive testers were working on such a vehicle as far back as 1977, and in 1995, a driverless car got up 110mph on a German autobahn. In addition, there have been the DARPA challenges to develop driverless tech, with a prize sponsored by the US government. Meanwhile, in England, London's Heathrow airport has seen the introduction of driverless "pods" already, this year. (check out the video)
Turns out, though, that the idea of driverless cars are nothing new. Japanese automotive testers were working on such a vehicle as far back as 1977, and in 1995, a driverless car got up 110mph on a German autobahn. In addition, there have been the DARPA challenges to develop driverless tech, with a prize sponsored by the US government. Meanwhile, in England, London's Heathrow airport has seen the introduction of driverless "pods" already, this year. (check out the video)
Such predictions do appear to be on course, and the prospect of reducing the 1 million worldwide car deaths each year but a half is positive development.
Anyway, after giving the matter no considerable thought, I realised there would be several effects of this new tech when it does appear, so here is what I came up with....
1. It will mean more leisure / work time for average person. Being able to drink your tea, eat breakfast, or read the paper on way to work, or actually answer emails and begin working.
2. The car will be able to make journeys for family members and friends without you present. E.g. after you have been dropped off at work, the car could go home and collect your kids, and drop them off at school.
3.This will change the face of shopping. E.g. your car could go to Tescos and pick up your groceries, and take them home.
4. There will be much less need for car parking spaces - your car can just go home and wait.
5. There will be much less need for several cars per household. Many will only need one car per household in many cases.
6. The ability to have a driverless car will be invaluable, providing a new lease of life to the elderly & disabled who are unable to drive, and the young, who have difficulty getting insurance, or are just too young to get a licence.
7. There will be no more need for late night hours long queue for taxis.
8. Indeed, there may no more taxi services – or at least ones with drivers. Alternatively, taxis may become more prevalent, or carsharing, as the need to own a car, as opposed to sharing, becomes more popular.
9. There will be no more drivers jobs – van drivers, taxi, coach, lorry, bus etc. This will impact upon tens if not hundreds of thousands of jobs.
10. The number of accidents will drop dramatically, as will road deaths, something predicted by Google in their blog post upon the new tech. The most difficult aspect to crack will not be the danger of your car hitting other vehicles, but pedestrians, particularly children, etc., as they are less predictable.
11. For a member of the public, driving your car will become illegal on the open road eventually – too dangerous, insurance issues, etc.
12. Cars will beoperable via smartphone facility, for example, you can “call” car to fetch. Apps for controlling your car (e.g. Volvo app?)
13. Cars themselves will change. They are currently focussed on driving as an activity. They will be a place for relaxing, and entertainment. More like a room. With TV, internet, and the emphasis on eating and drinking, and sleeping.
14. The change will cause a Huge cut in traffic, esp. With the introduction of “convoys” of cars travelling in unison to streamline roads.
15. There will be a massive loss of business for personal injury / motor insurance firms, leading to a huge loss to the economy and employment in that sector as firms go out of business.
16. There will be an end to car culture – driving will no longer be a mass activity, but a niche interest, so less magazines, less TV shows like top gear, less enthusiasts.
17. There will be a massive change for garages – services cars will become even more technical, IT rich, expertise, etc. Reliability will become a key issue like never before. MOTs will have to reach a much higher standard. Cars will have to be able to self-diagnose.
18. Cars will contain black box technology & ability to notify emergency services in case of accidents. There will be a massive drop insurance fraud, and premiums will go down, as cars become safer.
