Cars Need to Be Automated
The future is automated cars. They will reduce traffic, car accidents, and also allow people to do something other than drive on their commute to work. But do they need to fly as well?
No.
Last week at a SpaceX test facility in Texas, Tesla unveiled their version of a "flying" car: Roadster. It's being advertised as a 2-seater sports car with thrusters and ultrahigh-pressure tanks that can, apparently, propel a car into the air and spin.
As a prop, it's pretty cool. I would absolutely be one of the people driving this thing on the road. But whether or not it's actually street legal is one of the questions.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the car was "not necessarily a safety-optimized car" but it would "be an actual car that's on the roads."
He couldn't confirm if it would be legal everywhere, and neither could the website. Yet even without a finalized price, people are signing up. Supposedly, production will begin in 2028.
But the most insane part is the air pressure tanks. Estimates put it at 600 liters and roughly 250 kilograms of air between the two containers. While nobody has been able to confirm the pressure numbers, it could be as high as 6,400 psi. Which is more than what the Titan Submersible endured at the bottom of the ocean.
Better not hit a speed bump.
Numbers that have been confirmed are 0 to 60mph (100km/h) in less than a second, which is insane, and speeds as high as 230mph (370km/h), which is not only excessive but hilarious.
I mean, why?
There was no driver. The presentation was remote-controlled "to make sure we don't kill anyone" Musk said.
Tesla was one of the first to commercialize automated features, and I wish they would perfect that system before moving on to fighter jet sedans. Automated cars are the future.
Traffic is mostly human error. A slow-moving display of reaction time compounded by impatience and road limitations. Hitting the brakes is a ripple effect that can travel down the road for miles. With automated cars, things would be different. In a perfect world, all the cars would be synchronized so there would be no delayed reaction times at all. A light would turn green, and all cars would move together, at once.
Car accidents are a leading cause of death in people under the age of 29, and there were over 36,000 fatalities last year. That's 100 people every single day.
Automated driving would dramatically reduce that number.
If Waymo is available in your city, I highly recommend trying it. They are unexpectedly affordable (in relation to Uber) and better drivers than most humans. They are cautious, but also assertive. They are a great example of what the future could look like.
If you couldn't tell, I am a strong advocate for automated driving. While it does have its challenges and improvements still need to be made, this is the best long-term plan for reducing traffic and car accidents.
But it doesn't need to fly... yet.
