Like it or not, the driverless car is coming. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Mercedes-Benz reported that its new E-Class sedan had earned a Nevada Autonomous Driver’s License — the first production car to do so. At the same show, upstart electric-car maker Faraday Future announced (as it unveiled its autonomous FFZERO1 race car concept) that its future production models would be pre-wired to receive driverless technologies as they emerged, and Kia pulled the wraps off an entire sub-brand, called Drive Wise, devoted to driverless cars.
So as we contemplate a driverless future, and examine the ways autonomous vehicles will revise our thinking about everything from the insurance industry to law-enforcement practices, it can be enlightening to consider the end-user changes, as well. Children of the driverless generation will let go of more than just the go-turn-stop skills required to operate a motor vehicle, they will lose many of the attitudes, interactions and cultural norms — the good and the less good — that accompany manual control of a car.
I – Word Understanding
upstart – a newly successful business
pull the wraps off – to announce to the public (what has been kept secret before)
II – Have Your Say
1, What is your opinion about driverless in general?
2. Here are 10 things the driverless generation will never experience. Please share your thoughts:
1. No more speeding tickets.
2. No more driver training classes; no more bad license pictures
3. Nobody gets lost.
4. Cars will park on their own.
5. Driver prejudices (sexist, racist, ageist, etc) will cease to exist.
6. Fender benders will be avoided.
7. Road rage will disappear.
8. It’s the end of car thief.
9. Deers (or other animals) won’t pose a danger anymore.
10. Car racing will just be a distant memory. And no more Fast and Furious movie sequel.
412 Ten Things The Driverless Generation Will Never Experience
