Disconnected cars
Let’s face it, all presentday carmakers prioritise hi-tech or big tech. And they want us to believe that big tech is the future. Well, is it? All this tech is hugely influenced by major players in global hi-tech like Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon and even Facebook.
Big tech is synonymous with software and sensors although sadly, it’s not the real deal in automotive engineering where engines, wheels, tyres and related engineering DNA have made cars such technologically potent wonders!
Today’s carmakers are plainly obsessed with cutting-edge technology, which is why we see motor ads that proudly claim the car on show is so well connected and networked that it can drive itself. Level 5 autonomy is the Holy Grail of autonomous car mobility – the last frontier and ultimate manifestation of big tech where drivers will be redundant!
Yet, the so-called ‘Level 5’ is nowhere as close as some carmakers and software companies make it out to be. Perhaps it may not happen at all. The stark reality is that currently, no car can drive fully autonomously. In fact, no autonomous car has proved safer than a human controlled vehicle.
The latest traffic surveys in the UK confirm that only 31 percent of drivers welcome the idea of completely autonomous driving cars because most people like to drive. That’s wonderful news for those who are passionate about driving cars.
Isn’t it strange that despite overwhelming evidence pointing to the fact that most people like to drive their cars and no autonomous vehicle has proved safer than a human controlled one, the global ‘customer first’ motor industry chooses to ignore the preference of human drivers?
We are forced to believe that self-driving cars will be safer ‘because 95 percent of all accidents are caused by human error’ – and that’s a strong argument! But will computers be able to cope with the unpredictability of modern driving as humans do – like when our two and threewheel vehicles do their own thing, oblivious to the traffic rules in this part of the world?
To be trusted, computers must be infallible. And here again, the reality is different. Recent evidence including Boeing’s major issues with its ultra-sophisticated 737Max suggests they aren’t.
Experienced and capable drivers have gone on record saying that the limited competencies of semiautonomous cars can’t be trusted. That’s why sane people won’t take their hands off the wheel and let their car self-drive even in this day and age.
There are solutions to making cars safer – solutions that are far less costly. For instance, we could make the driving test tougher and enhance driver education; and we could hone in on factors that are known to trigger accidents.
UK based traffic research has found that the increase in crashes due to driver distraction is caused by the very connectivity that carmakers are promoting. They include mobile phones, touch screens, selecting satnav and music channels etc. In the US, 58 percent of all teenage car accidents are caused by driver distractions, which is why disconnecting cars may be safer than connecting them.