Nissan joined GM and announced this week that they plan to have cars that can drive themselves in production by 2020, but I am not sure that will be soon enough after what I saw on the way to breakfast.
As I turned north onto one of the main thoroughfares in Houston Friday morning, I saw a woman driving a very large black SUV with a cell phone in each hand on the steering wheel as she made her way through rush hour traffic. Sure, we are all used to seeing folks with their cell phones glued to the side of their heads, but one in each hand seems a bit extreme even for Houston. And yes, I know that she at least had both hands on the steering wheel. I wonder whether there were kids in the back seat?
So, Nissan’s announcement that they are working with the scientists and designers at MIT and the University of Tokyo to have “a commercially viable autonomous driving system in multiple vehicles by 2020” might need to be accelerated by a few years. John Capp, GM's director of electrical controls and active safety technology told reporters that each driver of these vehicles would still be in control and able to override the computer system.
I wonder whether they will have the systems installed in SUVs, pick up trucks, concrete trucks and semis as well? I wonder what autonomous vehicles will mean for the Construction Industry and for the Oil and Gas Industry?
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