• Question: Do you think cars driven by "robots" are safe?

    Asked by Ariyan to Huma on 17 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by RosieM.0308.
    • Photo: Huma Shah

      Huma Shah answered on 17 Nov 2016:

      Hello,

      Do you mean driverless cars – with no human driver at the steering wheel?

      As driverless cars become better and better at recognising objects on different kinds of roads (motorways, bye roads, dual carriageways), in all kinds of weather conditions then there’s no reason to suppose they would be more dangerous than human drivers.

      Learning by machines is a lot faster than humans learn, so a smart machine that is a driverless car can learn driving, road rules and has the benefit of lacking human road aggression, road-rage!

      Already in London there’s a company, Starship Technologies, that has a ‘boxbot’, a robot that looks like a box with wheels, designed to deliver small packages and food items on the streets:

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      I feel robotic cars, motor vehicles with computer programmes controlling all aspects of movement and road usage, will be safe and could cause less accidents than human drivers.

      Rolls Royce are also interested in driverless vehicles at the luxury end of the motor vehicle market. They have a concept car, see this YouTube clip with a future Rolls Royce that has no steering wheel, but has a digital assistant to guide the owner/passenger:

      Hope you like the car 🙂

      Huma

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