Can you cut 1 Tonne of carbon pollution out of your life?
Take the challenge​Google has put their self-driving car to the test on public roads... these futuristic little autonomous vehicles drive themselves and could be a lot safer for our roads. Plus, they are run by electric motors, which is way more sustainable!
What's more? The introduction of the self-driven car to our roads could mean a safer environment for cyclist, thus an increase of people riding their bikes instead of driving!
I know that one of the reasons I avoid riding my bike is because of my fear of roads, and that is not just my personal irrational fear of everything, roads are scary and many people think so! But we'll come back to this, firstly...
How do they work?
The car is powered by an electric motor with around a 100 mile range. It uses a combination of sensors and software to locate itself in the real world, along with highly accurate digital maps. A GPS is used to obtain a rough location of the car, and then the point radar, lasers and cameras take over to monitor the world around the car, 360 degrees.
The software will recognise objects, people, cars, road marking, signs and traffic lights, whilst obeying the rules of the road and allowing for unpredictable hazards, including cyclists.
How does it benefit our roads?
Well it's actually pretty self explanatory, people are flawed. We get sleepy, distracted or we drink and drive and that often effects the safety of our roads. These cars are built with out our mere human flaws, and have a specific ability to recognise bike riding behaviour.
For example, its sensors pick up commonly used hand signals from riders, allowing it to react within ample time and distance to the anticipated movements made.
My colleague and sister Bronte Hogarth wrote a blog about how the Daily Telegraph keeps attacking bike riders, reducing them to "hipsters" and forgetting about the many different people who choose to ride bikes. It's evident that bike riding is the transport of choice, but some people are just not road savvy enough to ride safely, which means they don't ride at all (referring to myself again).
Bronte states, "We should be aiming to double the number of cyclists in Australia, not be dissuading people. Not only is it good for your health, but also so important for building more sustainable cities into the future and leading a low-carbon life yourself."
Do you think safer roads will mean more bike riders?
Well if a car can finally pick up on cyclists hand gestures then people may be more inclined to ride.
The idea of these cars is not to replace the car currently parked in your drive way, it is to revolutionise this system altogether. Most likely, they will be used as car-sharing systems or to replace taxis, or shared amongst families.
What do you think? Comment below
