Apparently the real world application of driverless-cars technology is now upon us. Or as Ananth Prasad, the secretary of Florida’s Department of Transportation, puts it: “This technology is not 22nd century. It is here.”
Oh.
Anyone else feel equally amazed and, well, sort of uneasy? As in all of us who–on direction from driver-training instructors and parents–grew up with a “both hands on the wheel” mantra, no matter how tempting those one-handed, hair-pin turns were. Now we hear that drivers won’t have to get a grip. I thought back to the future involved a cool DeLorean.
We also hear that Florida, which can’t get really serious about texting drivers, is one of three states that will allow automated vehicles to be tested on public roads. Presumably it will include those rural interstates where the maximum speed limit is likely to increase to 75 mph.
So what’s next for Sunshine State roads scholars? Maybe a rationale that texting-while-driving is really a driverless-car shake-down cruise.