Peter Cheney writes in the Drive section of the Globe and Mail, where the writers usually talk about the joy of driving and the skills they have at doing it. However he notes that in fact we are not very good at it:
After a lifetime of driving, repairing and studying automobiles, I have come to an unavoidable conclusion – we are the weakest link in a car. As car components go, human beings are deeply substandard – we have imperfect perception, we are ruled by emotion, and we vary wildly in quality.
He notes that with antilock brakes and stability systems, cars are already doing much more of the driving than they used to be, and that the next step is inevitable.
Digital transportation technology is an unstoppable force. It will change driving in the same way that the Internet has remapped the world at large. Robot cars will end car crashes, improve traffic flow, and reduce energy consumption. I’m hoping get a ride in the Google robot car soon. I don’t expect it to be a thrill, at least in the accepted sense. But it will be a glimpse into the future – a place where driving will be a lot safer and more efficient than could have imagined – and probably a lot less fun, too.
More in the Globe and Mail: What’s the weakest link in your car?
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