11/05/2012
Welcome to the future
Welcome to the 21st century. Yes, we’ve been here for 12 years already,
but there is still something about saying it that makes it feel like we’ve
suddenly arrived in the future.
I guess it’s because for so long it was the future,
and now we’re here.
However, so far it’s turned out to be rather more mundane than we
anticipated. None of us has humanoid robots running about the house performing
chores, man still hasn’t landed on Mars and we still don’t have driverless
cars.... Sorry, what’s that? Oh, yes. I’ll let them know.
Hello, and welcome to the 21st century. In news just in, it has been
confirmed that for the first time in automotive history, driverless vehicles,
adapted Toyota Prius models, have been given the go-ahead for use on public
roads.
Although the only place so far to sanction their use is the US state of
Nevada, where they can be used "along freeways, state highways and neighborhoods both
in Carson City and the busy Las Vegas Strip", California is expected to
follow suit shortly.
"The
vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error," comments a
Californian senator.
"Through
the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle is
capable of analyzing the driving environment more quickly and operating the
vehicle more safely."
How
long, I wonder, before we see the like on UK roads? And, how long, I wonder,
before duck2water is selling car insurance for driverless cars?
Photo
© DoNotLick via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, driverless vehicle, Toyota Prius
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