We’ve seen them in science-fiction films: cars that drive themselves. And, as car enthusiasts, we hoped that this invention will never be realized, or at least not in our lifespan. But is seems like Volkswagen and the EU have other plans.
At the final presentation for the HAVEit (Highly Automated Vehicle for Intelligent Transport) project in the Swedish city of Boras, the German car company presented the “Temporary Auto Pilot”, or TAP, a system that allows the car to semi-automatically drive itself up to speeds of 130 km/h (80 mph) on motorways, with the driver simply monitoring the vehicle.
This is accomplished by combining the car’s automated systems, such as adaptive cruise control and lane assist, into one, all-encompassing function.
According to VW’s Professor Dr. Jürgen Leopold, this is “an important milestone on the path towards fully automatic and accident-free driving”, though he also pointed out that “the driver always retains driving responsibility, can always override or deactivate the system at any time and must continually monitor it”.
While accident-free driving sounds like a very good idea indeed, since it will save many lives, it also comes with a penalty for car lovers: this concept is only a step away from removing the driver from the equation completely.
Seems like James Cameron was only half-right after all: it won’t be the US that builds the machines that will take over the world but someone more efficient. Can you spell “Skynet” in German?
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