The Future Of The Automobile

There is plenty of talk these days about self driving and autonomous vehicles.  There are differences between these types of vehicles, but basically they each drive themselves.  The accident rate is predicted to drop substantially, as you will not have distracted or intoxicated drivers on the road.  The autonomous vehicle does not require a human to be in the car.  The self driving car, at this point in time, does require a human to give the car instruction.  How will this effect the future?  Well, in ways we can't even imagine.

First, experts say that children born in 2016 may never drive a car.  By the time they are of driving age, all cars will driverless., or so they predict.  Second, think about this.  At the moment most cars are used only 4% of the time.  Why not use them more?  For example, right now, most families own two cars.  With a driverless car, only one car might be necessary.  Father would drive to work in the morning, then send the car home for mom.  She would take the kids to school, run errands, then send the car to dad's office for his use.   If you have a long commute, take a nap on the way to your destination.   If one car is till more than your family needs,  several families could share one car.  This would save money for everyone.  Insurance would be less, and parking problems would be a thing of the past.  After dropping you off at the shopping mall, the car would drive itself to an off site parking structure until it was summoned to pick you up.

Does this sound like science fiction?  It's not.  This technology is already here, on the road in some places, and being tested to get out the final kinks.  Experts expect this technology to be mainstream in a few years.  You might see self driving transport trucks on the roads.  The days of long haul truckers may be gone.  This is all happening so fast, that we aren't sure of the unintended consequences of all this.  Would it eliminate traffic jams, parking problems and accidents?  Experts think yes.  I think this is all very exciting.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of having a self driving car take me to my destination.  I love to drive, and it sounds like my driving days may be numbered.