d motorofficial f motor_mag^11Dylan Campbell
M FRONT END. ED’S NOTE
TECHNOLOGYTECHNOLOGY CANCANSAVESAVELAZYLAZY DRIVERSDRIVERS
FROMFROM THEMSELVES,THEMSELVES, BUTBUTIT SEEMSIT SEEMS
EVERYBODYEVERYBODY ELSE CAN GET STUFFEDELSE CANGET STUFFED
AUTONOMOUS CARS cannot arrive soon enough. It’s time
to get people who don’t give a damn about driving, and who
can’t drive to save their lives, out of the driver’s seat.
I don’t know if you heard this month the startling news the
European Union plans to introduce speed limiters in all new
cars sold from 2022. Now, this is one of those things where
people read the headline and develop their opinion prior
to reading the article. There are important caveats. Under
the rules, new vehicles would use GPS and sign recognition
cameras to know the posted speed limit, and then it will
‘assist’ drivers to keep under that limit. The driver can override
the limiter by pushing the accelerator presumably through
a detente, a safety feature that already exists in cars with
manually operated speed limiters. A full on/off switch is also
envisaged for the system, at least initially.
New cars would also be fitted with a ‘black box’ recording
your every move – this is the more worrying development
frankly, given the propensity for data to be transmitted to
authorities, whether you’ve been in a crash or not.
Australia is expected to mirror the EU in introducing these
supposedly game-changing, road toll-reducing technologies,
which also include an ‘alcohol interlock’ and distraction
detection. It’s easy to stoke the usual Orwellian fear of a
Big Brother watching our every move, protecting us from
ourselves. But, really, it is a little bit like that, let’s be honest.
And it all has to do with the fact that members of the public,
on the whole, perceive operating a car as a chore and go
out of their way to give as little of their energy to the
task as possible. At which point they are surprised
when they crash and seek immediately to lay blame
on another party, to protect a misguided sense of themselves
being an exceptional driver, when in fact they’re anything but.
There are two types of people on the road – those who will tell
you they’re an above-average driver and that everybody else
is garbage; and liars. This is so predictable it’s almost boring.
It’s time to take these people, so disinterested in the genuine
joy, cha llenge, and journey of self-improvement that is driv ing,
not off the roads, but out of the driver’s seat. I’m over this
transitional period of technology – active-emergency braking,
lane-change assist (where the car steers you back into the
lane), anything that may apply the brakes or steering on your
behalf. And, now, technologies that force you to agree with
whoever has set the speed limit.
I am starting to dream of public roads where those most
ambivalent towards driving, and who are the biggest danger to
themselves and others – those motivating the development of
all these so-called safety technologies – are put in the back seat
as a computer assumes chauffeur. There, they can mindlessly
refresh their social media feeds at their heart’s content, or
watch entire seasons of Netf lix shows – whatever, so long as
they’re not dozing at a red light in front of me or putting a
quarter of their car in my lane.
Of course, there is no regulatory guarantee people like you
and me, who can take the wheel safely, will still one day be
allowed to share the roads with computers, and perhaps I
should be careful what I wish for. But if it can be possible
to have ol’ C-3PO dawdling in the correct lane at a too-
low speed limit, and sees me coming better than its
occupant would, let’s try to hurry this
autonomous thing up.- MOTOR uniform has
not quite taken off yet.
Give it time... - Here’s a test to see
if the OH&S lady reads
the magazine - Shout ‘mouse’ if you
want Louis Cordony to
entertain you - Scotty took advice to
become one with nature a
little too literally - The higher ups keep
saying we need to branch
out. MOTOR boy band?
In the
MADHOUSEOUT-TAKES
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AT MOTOR05