Tag Archives: self-driving

Cruise control

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I had an almost 3 hour drive today and my car did most of the driving for me. The cruise control has lane assist, helping the car stay in its lane. The same cruise control is adaptive, staying behind the car in front of me at a safe distance and maintaining the speed of that car as long as it does not exceed the maximum speed I set it to. So, I listened to my audiobook, foot rested off the pedals, near the break, and hands gently on the steering wheel.

I like it. I like it a lot. I used to hate the dance of putting the car in and out of cruise control depending on the traffic in front of me. Now the car does that thinking for me. I know there are people who love to drive, and who will miss the feeling when cars inevitably start to drive themselves. I won’t miss it.

I’m ready for a fully automated cruise control to take me from driveway to parking lot, and safely home again. I look forward to the opportunity to do more with my driving time than just listen to a book or a podcast.

Also think of how much smoother traffic will be. Cars will communicate with all the other cars around it, lane changes will be totally safe, cars can accelerate from a traffic light significantly faster, and reaction times for unexpected incidents will be faster than humanly possible.

Bring on the driverless car, make it mandatory on large swaths of roadway. I’m ready for it.

Gone electric

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I’m loving my new electric vehicle. I’m so impressed with it. It’s quiet. It has amazing acceleration. It’s affordable to run. And while the charge time is less convenient than a fill up, soon I’ll have home charging and that will all but eliminate this inconvenience other than for occasional longer drives. I’ll admit that we were really considering a hybrid for a while, but I have no regrets for going fully electric. I think it’s the way of the future.

One neat feature our new car has (that is not exclusive to electric cars) is drive assist cruise control. Not only does the car slow down with traffic while maintaining cruise control, it also has lane assist, where the car self-drives, staying in the lane. I’m still required to be watching the road and need to have a hand on the steering wheel, but I love this feature. It has made me realize something. I’m ready for self driving cars.

Just like I made the transition from gas to electric, I know that in a few years I’d be willing to give up driving and let the car do all the work for me. I could see myself writing a post in 2028 titled ‘Gone self-driving’. Imagine how much safer the roads would be without distracted drivers, without erratic lane changes, and without unnecessary delays at traffic lights.

Imagine cars on a highway where every car knows what the intentions are of the neighbouring cars… traffic fully in sync, and flowing to maximize efficiency. How incredible would that be. Of course this won’t happen in just a couple years, it would take decades for people to give up their freedom to drive a car. But maybe we’ll see driver-free zones or driver-free lanes in the near future.

My first electric car has me excited about the future of cars and transportation.