Is full autonomy the way of the future?
Autonomous driving features are becoming more available as car manufactures build them into their vehicles. Companies like Honda, Volvo and Tesla are making vehicles that do the driving for you. All the ‘driver’ has to do is sit back and occasionally touch the wheel to let the car know that they are still there. Although the cars are not fully autonomous yet and still require some input for the driver, the fact that cars can basically drive them selves is mind-blowing.
With the release of Tesla’s new Model 3, autonomous, electric vehicles will become more available to the general public. Tesla has a goal of making all Tesla models (Model 3, Model X and Model S) fully autonomous, requiring no driver input. Elon Musk’s goal is to have all 2nd generation Tesla models be fully autonomous within the next 2 years. That is fairly ambitious given how rigorously the government looks at the safety and reliability of vehicles. However, Musk is planning to have a fully autonomous vehicle travel from California to new York with absolutely no driver input this coming winter. If he can achieve that, than the road to fully autonomy will be that much closer and it won’t be long until we see cars driving themselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG68SKoG7vE This video shows the full extent of Tesla’s autonomous driving capabilities.
Still, the idea that a car can drive itself without any driver input can be scary for some people. What happens if one, or all, of the systems fail? Who is responsible if a collision happens? These are all question that we have to ask ourselves as we come into an age where the thought of having a vehicle with no driver, is possible.
Will autonomous driving make our lives easier or cause us more headache? Well, in more ways than one, autonomous driving will make our lives easier. Cars will be able to come and pick us up wherever we are. Sitting in traffic will no longer be monotonous, you will be able to get work done, play games on your phone or sleep while you wait for traffic to clear. Taking long drives with your family will be more fun. Instead of keeping your eyes on the road, getting back aches and having to stop to switch drivers so that you can have a rest, you will be able to interact with the whole family and friends. You can turn around and talk to your kids or friends in the back seat, or you can sleep while the car does all the work for you.
So, while fully autonomous driving may not be for everyone, I believe that it will make our lives easier. It will give us more time to enjoy life instead of just sitting behind the wheel waiting to get to wherever it may be we are going.
