Charging people to drive has been the dream of policy wonks – serving politicians tend to see it as political poison. So when federal minister Paul Fletcher raises it, that’s a step forward.
It’s a race that’s pitting the motor industry against tech giants and even the ridesharing company Uber. But what will be the impact when driverless cars take to the roads?
New technologies do not exist in a vacuum. To succeed, new transport technology needs to match the ways we want to move around cities and be accommodated by laws and regulations.
Two Tesla cars running on autopilot have crashed this year, and one driver was killed. It raises the question of whether the company’s autonomous driving system is safe for our roads.
Driverless cars are the technology of the future, but unless they learn how to drive in rain and snow, they will be a technology that lets us down when we need it the most.
Autonomous submarines might do for naval warfare what drones are doing for air warfare. So should Australia consider autonomous subs as a replacement for the Collins class?
People and machines need to be able to interact and communicate effectively. Right now we – and they – can’t. But without that, we risk missing the potential benefits of collaboration.
Can software really be considered the “driver” of an autonomous vehicle? This is one question that needs to be resolved before driveless cars can hit the roads.