Perhaps it will be a little longer before cars are driving autonomously?
In around ten years' time, autonomous cars will be commonplace, or so we hear. However, anyone looking at the technology already available today wonders whether ten years will be enough for developers to make sensor and control technology as safe as expected.
Many cars today are equipped with traffic sign assistants. After 5000 km with such a system, I am a little surprised at its inability. If I were to blindly follow its recommendations, I would have handed in my pass several times already. It suggests 60 km/h in 30 km/h zones and 120 km/h in 60 km/h tunnels without any problems. The other way round is also often wrong, which can result in angry comments from behind.
The lane assistant is hardly any better. Roadworks are an abomination to it, and it doesn't recognize crash barriers at all. Road discoloration or old markings can tempt you to change lanes incorrectly. And the Emergency Brake Assist? It can only see as far as the next car, but not beyond, which puts it at a distinct disadvantage compared to an attentive driver. In Germany, a Porsche driver is currently taking Porsche to court over this.
It is understandable that the modern systems often capitulate, because detecting traffic situations is really demanding and humans also make a lot of mistakes here. Moreover, the authorities are hardly aware of how difficult they are making things for cars. The computing power available in a normal mid-range car today is never sufficient to carry out the necessary real-time simulations. The sensors and cameras are also not yet sufficient for recording complex situations and car-to-car communication is still a dream of the future. Will we get it all right in the next ten years? Uber and the like seem to believe that we will; they have already ordered tens of thousands of self-driving cars.
It is interesting to note that many of today's drivers value "driving pleasure" more highly than technological progress. According to a recently published survey in Switzerland , half of those questioned were opposed to autonomous driving.
And what does all this mean for us classic car and youngtimer drivers? We are still in demand as intelligent road users and probably won't have to let ourselves be displaced by self-driving cars any time soon ...
