Not yet!

I was surprised to read recently that trials for driverless cars, without a human on board, are already underway in London. The nearest I’ve got to a driverless car, since I don’t like using cruise control, is my recent conversion to Sat Nav. A bit late, I agree. And like all late converts, I wonder what I did before I started using it. I really don’t know. Well, yes, I do know. I got lost – a lot!

So the idea of simply climbing aboard a futuristic-looking car, setting my destination and letting the vehicle’s electronics do the rest, while I sit back with a gin and tonic and read a good book, is a very appealing concept, especially set against the stresses and frustration of modern day driving. However, trying to tack a hi-tech transport solution onto an inadequate infrastructure is only going to end one way – in more stress and frustration.

There are, of course, already semi-autonomous cars out there, that can control speed, steering and braking on the motorway and also have an automatic lane-changing feature, which sounds quite terrifying. The two features these cars possess that I’m very excited about are – the auto-park and “summon” functions.

I have always struggled with parallel parking, so a car that just gets on with it and parks in the trickiest of situations, with speed and accuracy, is a dream come true. Likewise the idea that you can summon your car to come and pick you up outside a supermarket, for example, without the embarrassment of wheeling a trolley round and round a car park because you’ve forgotten where you parked it. Not that I’ve ever done that …

The biggest benefit of all, though, has got to be the way that this pioneering technology could improve the lives of people with limited mobility, people who can’t drive themselves, or negotiate public transport, for whatever reason. It will give people struggling to get around, greater freedom, independence and a better quality of life.

But this is the future. To reach it, an awful lot of work has got to be done to sort out the numerous problems along the way.  Security is one of the biggest issues. In particular, the very real danger of cyber attacks on driverless cars that could lead to disastrous consequences. Research continues apace to try and find a solution to the threat of hacking.

In addition, the technology will create the need for a complete legal restructure before self-driving cars can become a reality. The big question is whether manufacturers or the ‘driver’ is liable in the event of an accident. As for car insurance, there will be a need for extended cover to protect motorists if the software in the autonomous vehicle malfunctions when they’re not in control.

Other questions arise about whether we will still need driving licences. The Highway Code will have to be changed to take into account actions that, for a human driver, would be considered dangerous but for autonomous cars would be the norm e.g. tailgating. A second driving licence may well be necessary in order to ensure that people are capable of taking over control in an emergency and haven’t become complacent, trusting the technology too much.

However, the biggest problem of all is that our current crumbling road infrastructure is nowhere near good enough to support driverless car technology. This includes everything from road markings, signage and damaged surfaces. What would an autonomous car make of rows and rows of potholes? Without a sound and well-maintained infrastructure, these cars are not going to function correctly, because they won’t be able to recognise the action triggers programmed into them. And what about adverse weather conditions? How will they cope with flooded roads?

So, given all the above issues, it’s not surprising that the current thinking is that it will take a decade or more for manufacturers and lawmakers to find the correct combination of technology and legislation to allow a vehicle without a direct driver oversight to appear on public roads. With that in mind, perhaps I will have to learn parallel parking, after all.