Plans are afoot to make one of the UK’s cities into a driverless car city. Will it be yours? Would that be a good thing?
In a fit of unusual generosity the government has dusted down the old cheque book and offered a cool £10 million to the town or city which becomes the country’s testing ground for autonomous vehicles. So far, Oxford and Milton Keynes have made a name for themselves as being pioneers in this technology.
The idea is that the UK will become a world leader for this kind of technology and will reclaim its rightful position as global superpower before heading out to get its empire back. One step at a time though. Before we order Boston to hand back the keys to the city and get Canada back under the wing, maybe it is worth considering whether you would like your city to be the first driverless car city in the world.
The Cool Factor
Image credit: Steve Jurvetson
Let’s face it; it would be frankly cool to be able to say that you live where cars run around on their own. Even if you live somewhere unfashionable whose name you are embarrassed to mention when on holiday you could benefit from this. People from all over the world will see your city as a cutting edge, groovy sort of place.
The Fear Factor
Would you be afraid to go out to drive or to walk if driverless cars were all over the streets? There is nothing so far to suggest that these vehicles aren’t completely safe. However, they said that about Westworld and look what happened there. Even if you haven’t been mentally scarred by an old sci-fi film starring Yul Brynner you are sure to be slightly worried about the idea?
Would you be happy for your city to take on this challenge?