Saturday, October 09, 2010

Wow, Google cars that can drive themselves

As much as I advocate alternative transportation and bicycling, driving might not be so bad in the future. Technology to the rescue. Here comes Google cars that can drive themselves.

Much safer than the horrible carnage of over 37,000 US highway deaths per year from today's vehicles. Most people take this death toll for granted. It's an appalling truth about today's cars, but maybe not tomorrow.

I've heard it said that one can "tighten every nut in a car, but if nothing is done about the nut behind the wheel the car is still not safe." Well, automated driving can do just that; eliminate nuts behind the wheel.

This could reduce traffic congestion as well since computers are likely to be better drivers than humans. Better at spacing cars on the freeway.

Technology might even solve our fossil fuel problems with clean energy. Might I say something like solar or nuclear power to charge the batteries in electric cars?

I know, some folks cringe when I say nuclear power.

American culture has trouble slowing down so it looks like this is our fate.

Bicycling still has it's advantages for those of us who like slower paced things. Traveling through landscapes at the pace of a bicycle is great for really seeing things; not to mention getting exercise.

It seems like most people don't want to slow down that often though. It's not something this culture does with ease.

For that reason, most Americans are in trouble unless technology can come to the rescue. Google cars may arrive just in time since the cars of today are crap.

For some trips, I'd even consider using a Google car if it was available. That's saying something for me.

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