Self-driving/Automated car

I strongly believe that the next great leap in productivity/industrialisation will come in the form of automated transportation (driverless vehicles). The technology for driverless vehicles already exists (though it's scarcely perfect at present), and though many people are sceptical or even scared, I am sure they will be on our roads within the next decade. The convenience, reliability, endurance and above all the cost of driverless vehicles is likely to prove irresistible.

Think of
-the convenience of having your car drive you to work, while you read the papers, then drive itself home to park until 5 o'clock.
-the safety of knowing that your car will never tire, daydream, speed or drink.
-the efficiency of a truck that can drive itself, without reststops, or a paid driver. Delivering goods quicker and cheaper.
-agricultural vehicles that can spray, spread, mow, harvest fields unattended, while the farmer attends to other work around the farm
-a rubbish truck that can drive/load/empty itself without a crew being exposed to the harmful waste
-a postal truck that collects, sorts and distributes post all day and night and at the weekends.
-busses that can run all night, cheaply, regularly and reliably


Indeed, once you start thinking about it, it's obvious that automated vehicles are such a boon to the economy and society that all apprehension about giving control over to the vehicle will be steamrolled once they gain a foothold in any particular area (probably agriculture).

Agriculture seems the most likely sector to adopt driverless vehicles first. The simple driving patterns, in open spaces with only infrequent obstacles seems perfect for automated vehicles to make a breakthrough. Once this happens, it will not take long for the technology to develop and freight and utility companies to adopt the technology.

I personally, don't expect them to become common in personal vehicles for a long time to come (although PSVs may be ahead of the curve). The cost of the technology is easily justified where it does the work of a paid driver cheaper and better, but in most family cars, automation will simply be liberating the driver from driving -desirable, but hardly worth the cost.