Everywhere we look — TV, newspapers, magazines, websites — we see the advent of electric cars and driver-less automobiles. It appears that the reality of autonomous driving is upon us, and can no longer be viewed as mere experiments of technology companies like Google and from innovators such as Tesla.
It is also evident that all the leading automobile companies in the world have been developing their own autonomous driving technology, and it seems these processes are way ahead of anything that we are cognizant of.
Despite this development, consumers are still torn and unprepared to acknowledge the reality that in the near future, cars will no longer need a human driver. Such uncertainty may be due to safety issues or plain resistance to change.
Nonetheless, consumers’ ambiguity has not stopped the automobile industry from introducing and showing additional proofs of the benefits of the concept, and in launching more autonomous driving platforms.
Although the idea may sound futuristic, the car manufacturing industry leaders are one in the belief that self-driving cars are no longer so far-fetched as numerous automobile manufacturers, both in Europe and in Asia, have been collaborating with technology firms in the manufacture of driver-less cars.
Mercedes, BMW, Tesla have either released or will soon release their respective intelligent models, and Google has announced it would be testing its own prototype.
One of the biggest gains in having self-driving cars is that they can help make roads safer for people. These automobiles, equipped with 360-degree sensors and cameras, can detect when a speeding car is approaching or a human pedestrian suddenly crosses the road. These cars can activate the brakes or change direction to avoid collision.
In Japan, the rate of accidents involving senior citizens had escalated, causing the sale of a big number of cars that have features which will help the driver avoid collisions and accidents.
Autonomous cars in Dgte?
The idea of a driver-less car will surely be a welcome choice to us local motorists, especially that many of us love to get our hands on new technology.
However, given the road conditions of our City, the ever-changing routes, policies, traffic schemes, and the driving habits of many reckless drivers, I’m just wondering if autonomous cars can ever be fit to run on Dumaguete roads without destroying ourselves.
Noticeably, the traffic situation in Dumaguete hints of the City’s economic condition. With all the cars and motorcycles plying the roads and choking off parking spaces, it clearly shows the residents’ financial capability of purchasing these automotive vehicles.
Unfortunately, with the escalating number of privately- owned vehicles plying our streets, plus the increasing number of pedicabs, our roads can hardly keep up, physically and traffic-wise.
With the advent of “intelligent” cars, the following major issues will be avoided: accidents due to driver’s slow reflexes; collisions due to a drowsy driver; havoc brought about by drunk, unskilled, and undisciplined drivers; mishaps due to wrongful pedestrians’ crossing of streets.
Sounds good, and it would appear that such traffic problems will be resolved. However, this is based on the premise that everyone can afford to purchase an autonomous car, meaning, all the cars that are plying the City streets are all “intelligent automobiles.”
What if not everyone can buy such a car? Can a driver-less vehicle foresee what a fallible, heedless human driver will do when both of them stand side by side each other?
Also, since our City keeps on experimenting on traffic schemes, I doubt the “intelligent” cars can remain intelligent enough since these autonomous cars are highly-programmed to follow certain rules and boundaries. If traffic schemes in the past week changes, it would mean reprogramming the driver-less car many times in a month.
Then there are the stray dogs to worry about. Hopefully, the driver-less car can also detect the onset of animals and not just humans. Otherwise, there will continue to be accidents as these stray dogs just pop out from nowhere.
Another thing that needs to be considered is the fact that not everyone in the City is capable of buying an autonomous vehicle. Can a driver-less automobile detect if an undisciplined driver suddenly cuts it off from a nearby corner? Presumably not; after all, a driver-less car is programmed to follow a specific scenario, and definitely, a driver who suddenly decides to go fast is not included in that specific scenario.
Hopefully, the City traffic czars can get their acts together, and be able to implement a traffic scheme that is sustainable so that a programmed vehicle can be utilized.
And hopefully, too, the roads can be fixed in a timely manner to make the routes of these intelligent cars easier.
Finally, I also hope the issue on stray dogs will finally be resolved; whether a Dumaguetnon will use an autonomous car or not, our roads will be a safe place to travel on.
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Author’s email: wea_129@yahoo.com
