The driverless car: a dream come true?

“Watch where you’re going!!! “

”It’s okay, I have a driverless car!”

Have you ever wished you could sleep behind the steering wheel of your car? Or read in the comfort of your seat instead of driving hours to work? It may become possible in just a few years.

Thanks to Henry Ford, cars have spread around the world, reshaping the landscape and affecting our lives. A century later our vehicles are equipped with power steering, disc brakes, air conditioning, navigation systems and rear reversing cameras, making them safer and more comfortable to drive. But people always want something more, so Google, Apple, Renault and other companies are working on projects that will improve our everyday lives, just as Ford did. Each one is developing a fully automated self-driving car that won’t even have a steering wheel or pedals.

Apple vs Google, Peugeot vs Citroën

We’re used to battles between these giants in their respective fields, but in the future there will be a fierce war where automakers and giant tech corporations will collide. Google with its Open Automotive Alliance and Apple with CarPlay are already at the frontlines of onboard system development. In fact, Google started testing its own autonomous cars in 2012 when the state of Nevada passed a law allowing testing on public roads, and since then the project has continued to develop. On the other hand we have the famously secretive Apple, working on its own electric driverless car called Titan. What does Apple have in store for us this time?

Pull quote: "The autonomous car is a vision of the future."

Forecasts about the first fully autonomous car are controversial, due to uncertainties about the legalization of robotic cars. Some companies expect that these vehicles will be found on many roads in 2030, while other more confident firms believe it will be possible by 2020. “The autonomous car is a vision of the future. But this market will grow step by step”, said Rémi Cornubert, an automotive expert. According to him, this vehicle will save us time in traffic jams, a growing problem in large cities. 

Another issue this new technology may resolve is traffic safety. It’s no secret that humans, collectively, aren’t good drivers. Many people prefer to look at their cell phones instead of paying attention to the road. According to ONISIR (National Interministerial Observatory of Road Safety) 3,384 people died on French roads in 2014. This number should decrease as computer-driven cars become common. Computers don’t get sleepy or distracted, they don’t have blind spots, and the only thought on their “minds” is to arrive safely at the final destination.

The dream of a driverless car is becoming less and less utopian and more and more attainable. But will it ever be compatible with human laws? Is the technology really as reliable as predictions suggest? Fasten your seat belts! You never know what future may hold…

Emerson Luis DE SOUZA ULIAN and Taha Mahmoud GAIDI