Looking down the road, I see the driverless car

Perhaps you’ve seen them on television. If not, there is a nice online video that describes Google’s selfdriving car project (http://youtu.be/ cdgQpa1pUUE). Currently, Google has equipped a fleet of ten cars including the Toyota Prius, Audi TT and Lexus TX450h. These cars have driven over half a million accident free miles and are currently legal in Nevada, Florida, Texas and California.

Personally, I have never been driven in a driverless car. Although I imagine it would feel much like an amusement ride at Disney World. The main issue for me is that I actually enjoy the sensation of driving. It’s not just about getting to work, or driving home, or getting from point A to point B. Driving is about taking a trip, often by myself, with my own thoughts.

I do some of my best thinking when I drive. I’m not sure if I would feel the same if a bunch of computers, sensors and lasers were doing the driving for me. I guess that it would be much easier to day-dream if something else was doing all the work … assuming I trust the car!

The single most influential argument for the support of self-driving cars is safety.

Cars that are driven by computers do not make mistakes. I know that it’s hard to believe. Plus, I still have a tough time imagining sitting in the driver’s seat and saying “OK car, go home” without me grabbing the steering wheel just in case.

It turns out that the single largest reason we get into car accidents is driver error. Think of all the potential hazards: drunk drivers, speeding, passenger distraction, cell phone usage, texting and eating to name a few. In some cases, it’s a combination of the aforementioned.

Even with new laws against many of these hazards, accidents and fatalities attributable to driving continue to exist. The great news is that computers don’t suffer from any of the hazards listed above. As such, self-driving cars have the promise of completely revolutionizing automobile transportation. Imagine the impact on car insurance rates?

When (not if ) self-driving cars move out of Google’s laboratories and into our community, imagine the benefits.

I can think of a few right off the bat. First, no more looking for a parking spot. A self-driving car would seamlessly communicate with the inventory of spaces available and guide me directly to the closest available spot. Plus, the NFC function on my smartphone will have automatically transacted the necessary financial payment.

Second, we would actually get to where we want to go faster. Imagine a network of self-driving cars that were interconnected.

This would reduce the distance necessary between and among cars allowing for a speedier flow of traffic all meticulously managed by location-based software. A typical drive from Hamilton to Toronto may be reduced down to 30 minutes.

Finally, imagine the financial savings in the reduced number of police officers, parking attendants and traffic monitors necessary for a community of self-driving cars. As self-driving cars hit the road i n greater numbers, we in fact, may become better drivers ourselves. Whenever we’re on the road and we see a police vehicle nearby, we quickly improve our posture, raise our awareness, and generally become better drivers. Perhaps the same phenomenon will occur with a bunch of robots driving around us. Let’s f ace it, those cars will always drive better, follow all the rules of the road, stop gradually when necessary, change lanes perfectly, and never f ail to signal. Watching them drive perfectly, may provide peer pressure for the rest of us to do the same.

This may take a few years to materialize, but I’m already excited. If I can chill out in my car and watch soccer on TV, while my car pumps gas and buys me a frozen lemonade at Tim Horton’s, I’ll never mind the long trip along the QEW. Nick Bontis is a professional speaker, management consultant, business adviser, McMaster University professor and author. NickBontis.com | @NickBontis