3 minute read

boiMAG.com "National Autonomous Vehicle Day

Article from: boiMAG.com "Fitness" Issue

boiMAG.com "Fitness" Article

Embrace the future of travel on Autonomous Vehicle Day, celebrated yearly on May 31. While self-driving cars have until recently only lived in our imaginations (or on the silver screen), technology and science have combined to bring us the dawn of a new era in travel, when automobiles can go from one place to another without anyone touching the wheel. Founded to honor the advances in the autonomous vehicle industry and to recognize the potential opportunities thereof, Autonomous Vehicle Day shows us how close we are to a sea change in the way the world travels.

Autonomous vehicles are not a new concept, the legend of flying carpets is the earliest form of human imagination dreaming up a driverless vehicle. Multiple technology innovations over the years have brought autonomous vehicle development to where it is today such as the guidance system of torpedoes and General Motors’ 1958 Chevy, which had pick-up coils allowing this model to steer itself. In fact, this journey began almost 100 years ago, when army engineer Francis Houdina attached a radio control system to a car, allowing him to control it via remote control. To demonstrate features like turning, moderating speed, and honking, he drove this car around the streets of New York. Apparently, the driverless car spooked passersby, who took to calling it the ‘phantom car’.

Of course, innovation in autonomous vehicles is not limited to cars alone. Local Motors developed Olli, which is an automated electric, cognitive shuttle, which can transport up to 12 passengers at a time. Additionally, self-driving passenger vehicles, self-driving buses, and autonomous commercial trucks are also being developed. The Department of Defense is also purportedly developing self-driving military vehicles.

Entrepreneurial ecosystem platform Emerging Prairie and American technology talk show host Marlo Anderson founded Autonomous Vehicle Day in 2017.

What's there to like about Autonomous Vehicle Day? We’re going (back) to the future! Self-driving cars are what the movies and sci-fi books have promised us for a while now, and we’re excited to see how this reality will look. This day helps us take a quick stroll down memory lane and see how reality compares to the showbiz version of autonomous cars. So far, they’ve surpassed our expectations.

Safe driving is a thing of the future The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported around 94% of all traffic crashes are caused by human error. Reducing the human role is expected to reduce car accidents and save lives. This also has the add-on benefit of saving money. If you don’t crash, you don’t need to rehabilitate your vehicle, saving you countless dollars over the years.

It also inspires everyone to share in the experience of autonomous cars. The autonomous vehicle industry has been making great strides to change the future of travel as we know it, and we are here for the revolution. If more and more people knew about it they can embrace for what will be our future.