August 1, 2023: The following are some facts that may keep optimism in check regarding self-driven cars and the latest developments coming out of South Korea.
First, if the moon landing was real as the vast majority of the world believes, humans went to the closest celestial neighbour decades ago, with essentially robotic or computerised guidance and technology far from divine like today’s. Then, we have become bored for years with military missiles that could fly across continents with great precision and without any human “driver”, on board at least. Drones were born years ago, and the military ones are zigzagging in the skies behind enemies’ lines with the kind of mobility that would put previous Star Wars movies to shame.
In addition, as we are sound asleep on the plan, our lives are safely in the hands of auto-pilots most of the time. Even cars that require human driving are made largely by machines from start to finish. Also decades ago, some UK cities started experimenting with low-speed, self-driving shuttles on streets fairly close to regular traffic. In America, some states passed laws allowing driverless cars to be on the roads with more states set to follow suit.
And how did they build and how do they control the James Webb Space Telescope taking pictures of galaxies formed at the beginning of the universe?
South Korea, welcome on board. Long overdue, but better late than never. The country plans to release its Level 3-autonomous driving vehicle in 2023 that is capable of driving without human operation. Years ago, German automaker Daimler has tested its very first self-driven truck. At that time, people in Canada got very excited because drivers in Ontario were told they could be sharing roads with driverless cars. Also at the same time, Singapore was reportedly keen on self-driving vehicles, a “great solution” to its limited space, thinning supply of drivers and increasingly-challenged transport facilities. On YouTube, clips of mouth-watering exhibits of cars that can drive themselves have been there for ages.
Considering all of the above, why has it been so slow? There are two main reasons. Like it or not, technological advancement that the world enjoys nowadays owes a lot to human urge to out-kill one another, and that is why public interests are always secondary to military advancement. The second reason is the oil politics and the obscene amount of money in the veins of the orthodox auto industry.
Take into account the ear-splitting international alarms over climate change and the whole situation is even more absurd. Self-driven cars will greatly encourage car-sharing, reducing the number of vehicles as the urge to own cars will presumably become a lot less intense.
It’s not fear of accidents that is keeping the progress extremely slow. In fact, computerised driving is a lot safer than human operations. Somewhere and somehow, some people face huge losses if self-driven cars become the norm. This is why this ride toward the future is going at a snail’s pace.
Daily updates of major local and international news by Tulsathit Taptim
