GM Wants Self-Driving Cars on the Road by 2016
General Motors is trying its best to make everyone use mass communication. At least, that's why we think the company plans to debut hands-free driving vehicles in 2016. GM's "super cruise" technology will be automated and packed with wi-fi that communicates with other super cruise vehicles on the road. The Cadillac will be the first car to feature the system, so we'd suggest staying away from them beginning next year.
Mary Barra, GM's CEO, is currently doing her best to calm everyone's fears about super cruise. “Through technology and innovation, we will make driving safer. Everyone recognizes that when cars can talk to each other and share information about speed, direction, operating performance and more, we'll save lives, save time and save money as well,” she told The Los Angeles Times.
The tech will allow drivers to switch to an automated driving experience. Super cruise will keep the car in the proper lane, and brake and accelerate when needed to keep it a safe distance from other vehicles. Safety aside, Barra knows that one way to appeal to Americans is to explain that a product will allow them to be lazier than they already are.
"With Super Cruise, when there's a congestion alert on roads like California's Santa Monica Freeway, you can let the car take over and drive hands-free and feet-free through the worst stop and go traffic around," Barra said in a transportation industry speech, as reported by CNN Money. "And if the mood strikes you on the high-speed road from Barstow, California to Las Vegas, you can take a break from the wheel and pedals and let the car do the work."
The good news for GM is that a recent study found that 56 percent of American adults reported having a "positive opinion" of driver-less cars. With public opinion on their side, they can keep talking about safety, even though GM understands that if they get super cruise right, the money will flow.
"Industry executives say the primary goal of automated driving and connected vehicle technology is to reduce the estimated 80 percent of accidents that occur because of drivers' mistakes," Jeff Bennett and Joseph B. White recently explained in a piece for the Wall Street Journal. "But the technologies also offer opportunities to companies that sell mapping software, vision sensors and services that depend on locating consumers, which is why technology companies including Google and mobility-service startups are jockeying for position in the market."
GM's super cruise isn't something that drivers can just switch on and then zone out. But still, we can't help but worry about a world full of automated cars. If drivers cause 80 percent of accidents, how many will malfunctioning driver-less tech systems cause? Of course GM didn't mention the fact that computers mess up all the time, and the company just had a whole big thing last year about malfunctioning ignitions in their cars killing a bunch of people (which they knew about)...because that would make the super cruise a lot less super sounding.
[Image via Flickr - Diego Suazo]
