30 November 2011
Lazy drivers can rejoice with news from General Motors that cars will be self-driving within the next decade.
Citing advanced technology, GM's vice president of global research and development, Alan Taub, stated the goal of such automated driving was to continue to improve their vehicles’ safety features to such a level that drivers will be rendered redundant with cameras, sensors, radars and GPS systems.
According to Taub, “Future-generation safety systems will eliminate crashes altogether by intervening before drivers are even aware of a hazardous situation”.
Taub based his opinion on current safety systems already available in GM vehicles, such as a crash-avoidance system similar to Volvo’s City Safety that helps prevent collisions when cars change lanes unexpectedly. The system uses a digital camera that monitors shapes on the road and alerts drivers to potential collisions.” In the coming years, we believe the industry will experience a dramatic leap in active safety systems and, hopefully, a dramatic decline in injuries and fatalities on our roads,” he added.