Some of the hottest buzzwords in tech and automobiles right now are “autonomous” and “self-driving”. Most of us generally understand what a self-driving car is, but how will that impact what your car and the roads look like in the coming decades?
The Cars
If our cars drive themselves, do we need steering wheels? For now, yes. Currently the regulations of self-driving cars on public streets require that a driver be able to take control of the vehicle if need be and that, of course, requires a steering wheel and pedals. That doesn’t mean it will always be that way though. Google has already produced autonomous vehicles that do not have steering wheels or pedals. The cars can only drive on private roads but while doing so they are gathering a ton of data that will help the technology improve in the future. So your car probably still has a steering wheel, but what will be different is nearly everything else. Imagine a car where the driver‘s seat can recline into a fully horizontal position, or turn around and face your rear passengers. Picture a computer installed in the dashboard where you can get work done while on your commute. These are all likely possibilities of the future. As human involvement becomes less and less required in the driving process, why not use that extra time to get something done?
The Roads
Imagine a traffic jam. Bumper to bumper cars lined up for miles on the freeway. Now imagine the cars are moving at 50 MPH in that formation. That’s the vision BMW is trying to create with their Traffic Jam Assistant features. In this system the sensors and connectivity between the cars are so precise that they can move at high speeds while being only feet away from each other. As we near nearly 3 billion cars on the road by 2035, this is going to be a critical advancement. This technology may be several decades out, but other strange sights may be coming to the roads near you much sooner. Imagine a line of 20 cars all very close to each other. They all make the exact same turns and lane changes and stop at the same time. You look in the cars and only the front one is being driven. The rest? Well they have passengers, but those passengers are going other things like talking with friends or reading the newspaper. This is the future that car makers like Volvo are already engaging in with a technology called the Sartre Project. This is a technology which connects the self-driving systems of a series of cars to the lead car. The lead car is driven by a professional driver and the rest of the cars simple follow the leader. This tech is already being tested on European roads and may be a reality soon.
The future of cars begs the question of what is the future or car crashes. For that we don’t yet know, but if you do happen to find yourself in a car crash today it is always best to contact professional representation. The lawyers at Franklin D. Azar & Associates are available 24/7 for a free consultation. Call today and we will fight to get you the compensation you deserve.
