Perceptions by Gerry Warner

O.M.G.! Or as real men like Angus Davis and I like to say. Oh my God! On the technology front, they’ve finally gone too far – the Google Driverless Car! I kid you not.

The story was all over CBC this week, and a little searching on Uncle Google, uncovers a virtual treasure trove of information on this latest technological assault on common sense. Yep, a so-called “car” without a steering wheel. Without brakes, but loaded with sensors, gizmos and cameras on the roof to safely take you downtown to pick up the groceries, drop into Tim Hortons for a donut and a double/double and then deposit you safely home again as you read a book – sorry – a Kindle on the way back.

Aldous Huxley may have written Brave New World, but he never wrote anything as brave or as crazy as this.

But it’s true. Google is already building 100 prototypes of the subcompact, driverless car that apparently looks like a computer mouse, has no steering wheel, brake or gas pedal and can reach a maximum speed of 40 km/h.  Big deal! I can go faster than that pedaling my bike, but Uncle Google assures us that the computer mouse car will go faster in the future. However, before you reject the wacky concept out of hand, there are some practical features to the mouse-on-wheels.

For seniors, the disabled and the wheelchair-bound, a driverless car opens up a whole new universe for them. Apparently once inside, all you do is give some voice commands to a computer sensor screen to set your route then press a button to begin and end your ride. Maybe you could even have a little snooze along the way. What more could you ask?

According to the CBC story, Tony Dolan, chair of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and a partial quadriplegic, gives a thumbs up to the driverless car, which has already been tested on the mean streets of Detroit. He says they would restore independence to people with mobility challenges and improve their lives. Other champions of driverless cars say they would largely eliminate accidents caused by speeding, drunkenness and distracted driving; the main killers on the roads now. But others aren’t so sure.

If there’s an accident, who’s to blame? The driver, who’s not really a ‘driver’ in the sense we know today or does your insurance company sue Google? With a computer replacing a driver at the wheel, what happens if the computer crashes? Another ‘crash,’ I suppose. And what about the navigation system on long trips? If the computer loses the signal how would it know how to navigate? Obviously, at this point, driverless cars would be limited to short trips around town where the cell signal or Wi-Fi is always strong. Otherwise it would be chaos.

However, there’s another factor the geek-heads have yet to consider – most people like to drive – and it would ‘drive’ them crazy, so to speak, to be in a vehicle chauffeured by Google.

Think about it. You’re heading to Vancouver and you want to stop at a viewpoint to look at the scenery or have a picnic. Forget it. Unless you program a stop at the beginning, Uncle Google isn’t going to let you. What about your Tim Hortons java  stops? Or if nature calls? And if a damn deer makes a quick dash across the road will Uncle Google respond quickly enough? And what if you hit a detour along the way? The possibilities are endless. And even if Google finds an algorithm to deal with these issues who wants to listen to annoying voice commands from a GPS-like navigator?

Technology may be a wonderful thing and Google all-powerful. But there’s also the human factor and I think that’s what is going to keep driverless vehicles off the roads for a long time. Hopefully forever.

Images from Wikipedia/Google

– Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, an admitted technophobe and a Cranbrook City Councillor. His opinions are his own.

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