Driverless cars WILL crash, but who’ll be to blame?
I’m nonplussed by the motor industry’s push to get us to support driverless cars. The technology is advanced and, no doubt, very clever. But I don’t see the demand for such vehicles when motor manufacturers and specialist motoring magazines promote the handling characteristics and performance capabilities of the various models in an effort to persuade the public to buy one car before another. The only way in which to appreciate and gain pleasure from such characteristics is to drive the car oneself. many people, like me — I’m 70 — have enjoyed driving for many years and see it as a skill, like any other. I expect only a minority of the motoring public would actually fancy being driven around by what is effectively a robot. I own an Audi A1 TFsI sport, which is a delight to drive, and there’s no way in which I would give up this simple pleasure. How boring it would be to be wafted around by an automaton with no input from me. There are other aspects of driverless cars which concern me, not least the situation where a driverless car is involved in an accident with another driverless car. Who is to blame: the driver, the car manufacturer or the software designer? What would be the attitude of the insurance companies? Certainly, if I were hit by a driverless car I would expect an investigation by my insurer into whether the technology was culpable in any way and whether the various detectors were working properly at the time of the incident. This could be a minefield in itself. I haven’t seen any reports from the insurance industry regarding cover for driverless cars and I would caution anyone thinking of buying one to check first. maybe there is a place for such technology, for instance for people who care little about the pleasures of driving or those who have lost the ability to drive through illness or injury. But, to me, there are many important, unanswered questions from the manufacturers, the motor insurance industry and maybe also the police, who have the difficult job of enforcing motoring laws.
BRIAN M. ARCHER, Killingworth, Tyne and Wear.