Driverless cars will reach the market in 10 years

That is what General Motors, the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer, claims, with the permission of Toyota. The American company asserts that in about 10 years riding in the passenger seat of your own car while it takes you to work, on a trip, or out for a drive will be feasible.

This is not science fiction

Larry Burns, GM’s vice president of research and development, stated: let us bear in mind the technology we already have and use almost every day in some cases: radar-based cruise control, motion sensors, lane-change warning devices, electronic stability control and GPS. This means the present we are in can be defined as one in which the car dictates and the driver obeys… and we are not far from taking the next steps towards driverless cars.

To this last point we could even add that a self-driving car would optimise fuel consumption and emissions better and might even be more comfortable if it set its mind to it, a real luxury for its occupants. But we have not got that far yet. Good morning, wake up. Entrust lives to computer systems so soon? Deny the pleasures of driving? Manage to win over the affection of the road laws and regulations of the various countries? No technological advance, you will not achieve that so quickly.

GM is more optimistic and says that by 2015 they will already have technology ready to test, and that by 2018 the first cars of this type could reach the streets. And for you, is it fervent passion or cold technology at the wheel?

Source: The Inquirer