There has been a lotta talk about driverless cars over the past few years, but the transition from “THE FUTURE IS VOID OF HUMANS AND TERRIFYING” to “eh, everything is digital anyway” has actually turned out to be reasonably chill.
Chill enough to warrant Australia’s first-ever self-driving car trial to take place in real bloody traffic.
In early 2017, Melbourne will be the ~ first cab off the ranks ~ to share its live lanes with driverless cars. A two-year trial run by Transurban will see the vehicles take to Citylink, plus the Tullamarine and Monash freeways.
Researchers will be keeping a close eye on the cars’ ability to adhere to road rules, lane markings and the like. You know, the little stuff.
The vehicles will be inhabited by human “passengers” who’ll be able to take over should anything go awry, and and you’ll be able to spot the vehicles with ease, just in case you’re not yet totally cool with tailgating a robot.
That being said, the folks in charge are very confident that self-driving vehicles will eventually reduce the number of dangerous incidents on our roads. Victorian Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said “by removing human error from the equation, autonomous vehicles will play a critical role in reducing deaths and serious injuries
It’s all very exciting. And for those losers who are still on their L’s (like yours truly), maybe this could be a sweet life hack to finally let us have a cruise.
Source: The Age.
Photo: Knight Rider / NBC.
