If the Beatles had been writing today, Paul might have been inspired to write a song called “Baby, your car can drive you”. But perhaps it doesn’t have the same ring to it…
As blind people, we’ve all experienced the frustration of access to cost-effective transportation. How many times have you mumbled under your breath that if you could only just get in your car and go somewhere, your life would be so much better?
Self-driving cars are coming, seemingly a lot sooner than many of us thought possible. Will you do whatever it takes to get one? Are we heading into a golden age in which one of the biggest barriers to freedom of movement for blind people is about to be eliminated, or have we set unrealistic expectations? Is society really ready to put people in cars who can’t override the programming of a self-driving car in an emergency?
This was a hot topic at the Mosen dinner table, as Jonathan expressed a desire to jump into his own car as soon as possible. But Bonnie said that getting into a car without a competent driver in control would totally freak her out, and she’s not sure she could ever do it.
And what about the ethical dilemmas a human deals with when driving? Are we ready to hand those decisions over to an algorithm?
Self-driving cars could represent a massive societal change for all of us, and for blind people in particular. Please join the conversation, whether you’re an enthusiast or a huge sceptic.
A Cuppa at the Mosens is Mushroom FM’s live call-in show. Since it relies on people phoning in for the show to work, there’s no podcast. So why not set a reminder in your smartphone or other calendar to lock in Mushroom FM on Thursday at 9 PM Eastern time. Not sure when that is where you are? The Mushroom FM schedule page on the website will display it in your time zone.
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Let’s talk self-driving cars, on a Cuppa at the Mosens, Thursday 2 March at 9 PM, only on Mushroom FM, available on all good radio apps.