It has often been said that as the human race evolves and technology becomes an ever increasing part of our daily lives, the lazier we all become. Forbes online recently reported that driverless cars are going to be the main choice of transport in the very near future. But for those of us that actually LIKE to drive, and also sometimes experience the thrill of driving fast, driverless cars may not be an improvement in our lives that many of us look forward to.
Loss Of Control
Not all of us are keen on having technology take over every aspect of our lives. You can see a development pattern that is leading us to fully automated vehicles through a natural progression of design changes and so called improvements introduced by the automotive industry over the years, which in theory is preparing us for something like driverless cars. Having gone from standard clutch controlled to automatic cars , we are still essentially in charge of physically operating the vehicle to get us from point A to point B. Dr. Azim Eskandarian was right on the money when he shared the point that , “Autonomous driving may not be for everyone.” He went on to state, “Some people enjoy driving, and don’t want to give up control.”
The Driving Experience
It’s not that people like us are stubborn or even adverse to change; but we would all still like to have control over at least some aspects of our lives. Driverless cars will almost certainly take the edge out of our driving experience. Driving is an experience that maintains our sense of individuality and for many of us, it is an enjoyable activity that allows you to hone particular skills and use your brain to respond to certain situations and circumstances that require decision making. This is the driving experience that would be lost if we all sat in cars that did all the thinking for us
Safety Benefits Are The Main Selling Point
What fun can there be in sitting in a vehicle that simply drives you to and from your destination? While we do understand the benefits of such cars for the elderly and disabled members of our society, we do not want to end up feeling handicapped by total uselessness or inactivity while we drive around each day. As Forbes online pointed out, “We already have early-stage self-driving technology in our cars-including lane departure warnings, adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance and more. In a few years, most cars will probably be able to detect hazards ahead and commandeer the brake pedal…Europe is taking the lead in getting it on board cars.” The safety benefits are the main selling point for driverless cars, but an over reliance on automated technology to protect us takes away our own instinctive advantage that we can often hold over hard headed machinery, and sometimes not actually feeling safe is not a bad thing as it raises your concentration levels, so there are many aspects where humans can compete or even maybe have an advantage over technology.
Definitely Not Driverless
After all this talk about technology taking over, do you want to be in control and still satisfy your love of speed and adventure? A rally driving adventure is just the tonic for those worried about losing the pleasure of driving, just select your vehicle of choice and get schooled in power slides, skids and performing perfect handbrake turns. Try teaching a computer to do that, and if that was not enough, you could try three amazing cars in three exhilarating drives over the course of one incredible human emotion stimulating day — an experience you’ll never forget, even when driverless cars come to pass.
I guess those of us who want to hold on to our love of controlling speed will be relegated to a speed track for past time activities after all. We do not doubt that self-drive cars will gain popularity and maybe eventually become the car of choice. It is simply not comforting to see the rate at which machines continue to take over the thinking process of the human race, so do something about it and show the car who is the boss!
Author Bio:
Guest post contributed by Neil Hilden for Wish.co.uk – visit site for more driving experiences information. Neil is an automotive enthusiast and he moonlights as a freelance writer. His articles mainly appear on automotive blogs.