Why Driverless Cars May Not Work: Notable Author Malcolm Gladwell Explains [Video]
Many people today think that the future of mobility will be driverless cars and other modes of transportation. To an extent, that is true; however, there are some people who think that driverless vehicles may not be the future. The real reason behind this thinking is very simple, yet a bit difficult to understand for some people. Recently, this reason was thoroughly explained by Malcolm Gladwell, who is a Canadian journalist and an author.
Why driverless cars won't be the future!
The video of this short explanation of the reason behind why driverless cars may not be the future has been shared on X by Ganesh Sonwane on their page. In this short video, the Canadian journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell was giving an interview. During the chat, he boldly claimed that driverless cars in an urban setting don't work because they work too well.
Following this bold statement, he started to explain why he thinks in this way. He started by mentioning that recently he went to Phoenix, Arizona, in the United States of America. The author added that his producer was sitting in a Waymo cab, which, for those who may not be aware, is a driverless cab service by the tech giant Google.
Gladwell then mentions that he was driving right alongside the Waymo driverless cab and was cutting off its way to see the reaction of this vehicle. He added that these vehicles are equipped with a ton of cameras and sensors for driving without any driver. This cab stopped on the road immediately after his actions.
After which, he mentioned that after the first few cuts, he started doing rounds around Waymo. As a result, this driverless car would stop and patiently wait for him to clear off the way. As a result of this, Gladwell came to the conclusion that if every car is driverless on the road, there would be no penalty for the pedestrians for this misbehaviour.
Simple explanation
To simplify his thought and theory, the Canadian journalist and author gave a simple example. He stated that why don't people in Manhattan play football at 42nd Street (an extremely busy road)? The simple answer is that they would get killed by a vehicle.
He then highlighted that now, if all the vehicles on the road became driverless, which rely on sensors and cameras, they would never be able to drive ahead while the public takes space on the road. He added that these driverless vehicles would be stopped and not move, and it could be hours before these people leave the road, leaving people in these driverless cars helpless.
To many people, this may seem like a negative take on driverless car technology. However, in reality, it makes a lot of sense. These driverless vehicles will not be able to function properly on roads where there are lakhs of people who never follow rules. In most cases, these vehicles will become useless.
Gadkari: Won't let driverless cars come to India
Another major reason why Indians will not be able to enjoy driverless vehicles is because the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has given a bold statement. At an event organized in IIM Nagpur, the minister had stated that driverless vehicles in India will cause a lot of job loss for the drivers, which will affect the economy. Due to this, he will not allow the country to have completely driverless vehicles on the road.