I want to hear your views on self-driving cars!

[PhDPlease]

Hello Mumsnet!

Over the next decade the automotive industry is going to go through a change that it has not had to experience for over 100 years. up until now vehicle technology has been changing incrementally and developing into more and more efficiant and powerful internal combustion engines. If you compare a car journey of today (with an ICE vehicle) with a journey 50 years ago you are going to have a very similar experience. Priveatly owned vehicles, re-fuelling and having to stay engaged in the task of driving.

The next 10 years we are going to see a change, cars becoming electric and cars that can start to drive themselves. This could dramatically change how we use cars. Do we own them any more? Can they self-charge? What will we do with the time we gain back?

These questions and many more facinate me so much I quit my job as a senior research engineer for a car company to start a PhD (and a massive pay cut, which im not bitter about...).

My research area is focussed on the human aspect of future vehicles, how people will use them and what their needs, concerns and motivations are. To do this I have created a 3 year plan which starts with a short 5-10 minute survey.

A link to the survey can be found here: lboro.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/re-inventing-the-ev-journey-experience

As a way of giving back, I am happy to carry on the discussion about future vehicle interior design (as this is my research area) and clear up any myths (with proper scientific referencing).

I hope this is ok to post here!

Thank you for reading!

I have a long range electric car but don't want to use the self driving features. i think my husband wants to try but i like holding the wheel

I can’t see it taking off for sooo many reasons.

What about people who use their car as storage

Those who need to leave RIGHT NOW

And who will set the pricing? It’ll be a racket. And far cheaper to own your own car outright.

@pinklacy this isn't about the hiring of cars

it's cars who do the driving

@OP - for the record I don't identify as a female, I am a female

People will get complacent with driving.

Mercedes have it right with their self drive but you get shouted at if your hands aren't on the wheel.

If you hate the idea of self-driving cars thats fine, I am looking for all views not only those who want them.

And yes, this is both for privately owned or shared self-driving cars.

As I said, I am after all views, possitive or negative.

Thank you everyone for the feedback!

@TinyTear read the OP again, darling. It questions whether or not we will own them any more.

woah @pinklacy that darling really is patronising...

i did the survey and there is nothing about ownership in there...

so that question is a red herring

@PinkLacy Just to clarify, for my survey and my research I am interested in both owned and shared vehicles. In the original post I did give an example of a frequent question people have regarding self-driving cars.

I’m far too much of a control freak to leave the driving / parking to technology . Thankfully I’m probably also ‘ so old ‘ that I’ll likely be no longer driving myself when such tech is the norm .

My personal view is that the previous few decades will be regarded as abnormal in centuries to come, where the vast majority of people were able to own a form of private transport. Something unheard of in all of human history.

But I suspect in general, you're unlikely to get much past peoples (understandable) fascination with their own peculiar situation and inability to see much past their own needs and wants.

Good luck, by the way. I spent 8 years trawling the edges of technology as a strategy consultant.

For the sort term, I think we'll see the environment shaped to suit the vehicle first. So autonomous-car-only roads, lanes and areas of cities. Things will be expanded from there.

Be aware there are contradictory drivers (no pun intended) at work within the subject. Because once you have autonomous cars, someone somewhere (a la Uber) is going to twig that it's a fucking waste of money having one sitting on a drive for 20 hours a day, if it could be out there earning money as a taxi.

I would also suggest you remind yourself (or acquaint yourself) with Arthur C. Clarkes observation on what drives progress. Especially as you read this thread

I can't wait. I'll be able to pile the kids into a car on a Sunday morning and shout, "straight to Grandma's" and get a lie in.

I live in the countryside with ridiculous roads, so they're a terrifying prospect in at least two ways - they won't work here, and they'll make drivers from cities lose their driving skills when they turn up around here for holidays.

I know it's nitpicking but I also don't "identify" as a woman, and can't see the point of that question.

If you need to divide by male/female then asking whether we just feel stereotypically like we're one or the other is pointless, isn't it?

Can't wait, I want autonomous cars now. An uber-ish model would be great... "send a car in 10 min please, take me to work". No driver to make small talk with or whose driving terrifies you!

I don't want to own one. Let someone else take that on, insurance, servicing, charging etc... just send one when I want one, take me where I want to be and bugger off.

Need to think big!

I'm still at the ferrying children around in car seats stage of life. I only bother with taxis for a trip to the station/ airport or a drinking night out in town. It's only a few times a year. I like my private car, with my kids' car seats in where they don't get bashed in and out regularly and I know their history. For that reason, we've rarely hired cars since having children.

I like knowing my shopping bags, emergency supplies etc are in my car. I like knowing that I have the vehicle suitable to my needs. (Had plenty of requests for taxis going wrong over the years).

The thought of constantly hiring cars/ taxis seems deeply impractical to my lifestyle.

Self-driving cars is a great concept in theory. However, I can't see how they can safely replace and have a long transition time with the life of standard cars being driven by humans in a congested country with so many hazards.

I once had a tree fall in front of my car while driving at 40mph. I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye and emergency braked with 10m to spare. I don't trust that vehicles can react appropriately to so many random circumstances. There's that level of human instinct where you spot someone behaving oddly in a potentially hazardous way. Vehicles can only be as good as their programming, and it wouldn't take many ommissions or errors to risk expensive corporate manslaughter cases. There are dangerous individuals on the roads, but the thought of whole brands having potentially fatal flaws is terrifying (and the disel emmissions scandal doesn't reassure in that department)

I can see the benefits to people unable to drive for medical or developmental reasons such as dyspraxia.

Generally the concept doesn't enthuse me.

I imagine the autonomous vehicles having a car seat or 2 that pops up out of the floor in the centre. Safest place, low down, etc. Probably thinking a bit too woooo futuristic, but why not...

I think the main obstacle is the expectation quite properly that there should never be any crashes, so they will stop too often for the average petrolhead.

OP, have you read ‘The Passengers’ byJohn Marrs? It’s all about self-drive cars in a near dystopian future. I’ve just finished it and am now terrified of the very prospect!

I would love to get to the stage where the technology was that good that visually impaired people could use a self drive vehicle independently, without the need for another human to guide them. The improvement in the quality of life for visually impaired could be huge.

I don’t see how it could ever be safe enough that users should be encouraged to sleep whilst in charge of one!

I have tried identifying as a kaola but no one believes me... apparently I am not a kaola and am still a woman

Like anything else, ok till they go wrong. Potentially huge consequences when vehicles go wrong.

Pros: could massively cut down on road deaths.

Cons: all the other problems of cars (massive pollution, car-centric planning reinforcing sedentary lifestyles by prohibiting active travel etc.) still apply.

(Can't complete survey as no driving license.)