Putting the "Auto" in Automobile

"Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them."
- A. N. Whitehead (in F.A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty)

A little more than a year ago, my friend and colleague Randal O'Toole sent me a draft of a paper he was working on with a section on driverless cars. Although it didn't make the final cut of that paper, it got a full chapter in his excellent new book, Gridlock: Why We're Stuck in Traffic and What to Do About It. Initially skeptical, I've since become mildly obsessed.

In summary, it is now possible for cars to drive themselves under certain conditions. Adaptive cruise control, lane keep, and self-parking options already exist in a variety of higher end cars. As the technology improves, hardware and software become cheaper, and the public becomes more aware of the possibilities, it's becoming hard to envision a future without autos on autopilot.

Why should I care, you ask?

Lower pollution. Less congestion. Less of a need to increase expensive lane miles of roads, which means less construction. Less time on the road; more time for everything else. Using the commute or other driving to do something fun or productive. Less stress. Less road rage.

Increased mobility for the elderly, the young, and the handicapped. Getting drunks home safely (for themselves and everyone else on the road). No more teen-texting-crash tragedies. An end to driver error from distraction or fatigue. The list goes on.

Even as technical demonstrations proceed, the concept seems to be getting more attention in the press. Erik Morris over at the NYT Freakonomics blog has twice waxed enthusiastic (with promises of more to come), and it's been picked up in a variety of news articles throughout the country.

In addition to the links above, check out this Capitol Hill briefing we did with Volkswagen's Director of Research, Randal's WSJ piece "Taking the Driver Out of the Car," or just Google it.

"Anyone who fights for the future, lives in it today."
- Ayn Rand (The Romantic Manifesto)

If only.