Forget about self-driving cars - we reached that milestone a long time ago. Today I spent longer than normal on the highway and noticed my car is chock full of sensors.
Lane departure is something a lot of people have issues with - my car seems to know when I have drifted out of the lane. The downside to this of course is the fact that you have to drive over the imaginary lines sometimes.
My car stops on its own. If it doesn't like the car in front of it - if it thinks its too close - I see a giant word say STOP and I can feel my brakes being applied.
If I am switching lanes and someone is a little too close for my cars comfort - it will not only beep and flash an orange warning on my side mirror - it will make sure that I dont make the change.
Of course you can turn all of these features off which I did the day I brought the car home. I decided to see what it was like to drive with all the new technology turned on today - and I had to turn it all off.
The best technology in my car has to do with legroom - each driver has their own profile attached to their keys - when I get in the car the seat moves back right where I like it.
We will all likely use self-driving cars in the future. In the meantime some new technology like the back up camera - make people better drivers. For the most part innovations end up being disabled or unused. I drove a 5 speed for many years - so cruise control is a big technological advance for me!
It seems like cars are evolving to drive themselves. In the meantime - we are still required to sit behind the wheel and keep control. I'm sure there are more innovations that we will see before autonomous self-driving cars - but I hope car manufacturers will remember - some of us already know how to drive.
Ryan Geddes is a writer and entreprenuer located in Toronto Canada. When he's not writing, hes helping with House&Canvas Furniture Paint.
I'll stick to my basic DIY 2007 pickup thanks!
The problem with this encroaching technology is... who owns the car?
When a car can lock you inside and take you to the nearest police station, who owns the car?
When a car can decide whether or not you are allowed to change lanes, is it a better tool, or a worse tool? From my stand point, it is a far worse tool. Because you cannot rely on it to do what you have told it to do. But, there are so many bad drivers out there, that really need training wheels.
The incident we heard of where some students took control of a vehicle via the radio should have had ALL of those cars recalled. But, nope, that "feature" is still mandatory for all auto makers.
The latest cars are no longer good tools. AND, they are no longer YOUR tool.
I hate driving in small cars. I really enjoy my Dodge Ram King Cab. I do think we are in the last days of human controlled automobiles. Will be interesting to see what styles of self-driving vehicles are introduced.
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