Ten Timely Questions About Driverless Cars

That said I think there is going to be an enormous amount of pushback as the makers of these things attempt their collective takeoveramp160 Plenty of people are going to reject them out of simple common senseamp160 Count me in that groupamp160 In my daytoday life I simply donamp8217t see the demand for DCs or AVs or whatever we want to call themamp160 When I bring up the subject friends and family tend to shut me down as if talking about it isnamp8217t going to matter because AVs will never workamp160 Or they are tired of being told how to liveamp160 Or they donamp8217t have the cash to pay for new carsamp160 Or they are just plain afraid of themamp160 I understand all of that especially the fearamp160 Driverless cars make me nervous tooamp160 In fact I thought of titling this column amp8220What Could Possibly Go Wrongamp8221People ask me questions about themamp160 I go searching for answers here there and everywhere but even in the postCES tsunami of reporting onamp160the subject I found nothing that addressed commonsense concernsamp160 What follows is a list of queries that are on my mind some of them my own concerns others put there by folks with whom I have talkedamp160 Does anyone have legit answers to any of themamp160 If so theyamp8217ve been keeping them to themselves likely because there is so much money at stakeWhat about people who like to driveThere are millions of us who find a road trip or a quick drive to the store to be either energizing or relaxingamp160 A drive into town if only to the local Starbucks clears my head as quickly as a hot showeramp160 Especially in good weatheramp160 Music on windows down amp8230 good to goWhat about people who get carsick if they try to read or watch anything on any screen in a moving vehicleAgain thatamp8217s meamp160 All that amp8220extraamp8221 time to amp8220safely consumeamp160contentquot in a driverless car will be lost on me as Iamp8217ll be doing my best to fend off illnessamp160 If I pay close attention to an advertisement on paper or on a screen while my driverless car navigates busy streets I will forever associate the brand involved with nausea amp8230 or worseWhat about the transition period between ubiquitous cars as we know them and autonomous vehiclesHow in Godamp8217s name will driving cars be safe during the decades it will likely take to shift from roads filled with driven cars to those filled with driverless vehiclesamp160 Will it be like riding in bumper cars only with consequencesAnd what about the money honeyI donamp8217t know how many car owners there are in this country today but I do know the majority do not have the reserve funding to scamper out and buy new vehicles on commandamp160 Hell most of them donamp8217t even have retirement accountsamp160 Considering what we learned about hundreds of thousands if not millions of federal workers during the shutdown most people live paychecktopaycheck in our grand old landamp160 And letamp8217s not get started on Millennials who are beginning adult life drowning in debt and they are the collegeeducated onesWhat will be the resale value of the millions of new and used amp8220traditionalamp8221 carsIamp8217m going to guess less than zeroamp160 Resale money tends to help people finance the purchase of new carsamp160 But if that goes away what thenWhere will all the amp8220traditionalamp8221 cars go when their owners finally dump themMaybe theyamp8217ll join the millions of amp8220traditionalamp8221 TVs wherever they areamp160 Likely in a landfill or in the ocean unless we shoot them into spaceamp160 How much fuel will it take to do thatamp160 Score another big blow to the environmentWill there be any point to donating used amp8220traditionalamp8221 vehicles to various medical charities as so many good people do todayI havenamp8217t a clueWhat about motorcyclesSurely they wonamp8217t be driverless tooamp160 Ever try to separate a biker from his or her rideWhat about trucks buses ambulances utility vehicles etcPassamp160 Makes my brain hurtWhat about all the little things that currently go wrong in todayamp8217s carsCan you even count themamp160 Add in a few dozen sensors chips etc and these new cars will be regularly driving themselves to the local garageamp160 Will they know enough to make appointments firstWhat about the growing threat from hackers large and small here and overseasWaitamp160 Thatamp8217s 11 questions and I set the limit for this column at 10amp160 Damnamp160 I shouldnamp8217t have left the biggest and best for lastAs my Uncle Bob used to say to customers at his Esso gas station amp8220Happy motoringamp8221Photoamp160creditamp160 Gareth HarrisonUnsplashClick on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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Ten Timely Questions About Driverless Cars

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Ed Martin

AARP and the Ad Council Encourage People in Their “Pretirement” Years to Take Key Steps Toward Saving - Ad Council InSites

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AARP and the Ad Council Encourage People in Their “Pretirement” Years to Take Key Steps Toward Saving - Ad Council InSites

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