Automating the Driving Experience — The Driverless Car
Here is something I think is a sure loser: the driverless car. I hope you’ll check out this deadly serious article on the subject. But ask yourself: Is it conceivable that, by the time such technology could possibly be put into place that the biggest improvement in our transportation system will be the replacement of the driver?
If you really want to replace something, how about gasoline? It’s empowering terrorists, while causing climate change, ocean acidification, global hostility, tens of thousands of deaths from lung cancer and literally millions of asthma attacks a year. Aren’t we a lot closer to alternative fuels, and wouldn’t the benefits be far greater?
While you’re replacing stuff, how about the car itself? Do you think that automating the motorways will happen before we realize that we don’t need 4000-pound chunks of steel that are parked 95% of the day, and contain only one passenger 75% of the time they’re operational?
I’m pretty confident on this one. Of course, I thought rap music would last about two weeks.
Are replacing the driver and replacing gasoline mutually exclusive goals?
Is it possible that the driverless car could be driven more efficiently thereby requiring less energy, however derived, to drive it?
Ride a motorcycle. It’s more energy efficient, less damaging to the roadways, and as is often pointed out, why seat 4 (or more) when you are traveling alone.
I do ride a motorcycle and since I learned to ride in 2005, I’ve put more miles on motorcycles than on my car. But as for fuel efficiency, look at the figures.
Some motorcycles average less than 30 mpg whereas some cars are now achieving more than 40 mpg on the highway. Soon the average fuel consumption of cars will legally be required to be more than 50 mpg. With my 2007 Suzuki SV 650, I average more than 50 mpg, but with my 2006 Honda VFR 800, I average only 44 mpg which is less than what will be required for cars. Honda Goldwings sometimes get barely more than 30 mpg.
I think there should be a push to get motorcycle manufactures to improve fuel efficiency.