The future of the cars we love to drive is incredibly exciting, but will we actually be driving in them or riding in them? There is already driverless car technology being tested by Google and Tesla, but those vehicles are not quite yet completely autonomous. They still require a human to command the wheel.
Google began testing their autonomous driving system back in 2011 once legislation allowed them to start testing their technology on the roads. A few of the cars that were used as guinea pigs were the Toyota Pruis, Audi TT, and the Lexus RX450h. After early success testing these vehicles, Google introduced a completely autonomous car that didn't even have a steering wheel, a gas pedal, or a brake pedal.
One of the best parts about driving is being in control of such a powerful machine. You have your hand on the steering wheel, foot on the gas, eyes on the road, and you are just cruising. If we make the shift to completely autonomous cars, that feeling of being in control of your car will be taken away. This is not necessarily a bad thing, because if we can prevent accidents by having autonomous cars on the road, then this is obviously a better alternative that will limit human error.
These driverless cars are still in their very early stages of development and are barely being road tested at a maximum of 25 MPH. We are a long way away from the day where everyone drives an autonomous vehicle, but this is potentially the future of the automobile industry. Are we going to be ready to let go of all control? Will this technology make driving safer and limit car accidents? Only time will tell.
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