Would you really sit behind a self-driving car?

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It might not be the flying car we have always been dreaming of, but the era of self-driving cars is upon us. Although Google was the first one to work on this concept, other companies like Tesla, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and more recently, Uber, have also ventured to come up with self-driving cars. With all these companies pitching in, trying to make the autonomous car a reality, it is predicted that by 2020, people will be ‘driving,’ well more like sitting behind self-driving cars. In fact, in December 24^th 2014, Google revealed its first finished prototype and although it is a long way from being viable, it is a step towards a future of autonomous cars.

Kenya is no stranger to road accidents. In Kenya, between 3000 and 13,000 people lose their lives in car accidents every year. Fortunately, with self-driving car technology, this number is likely to decrease significantly. The main goals for autonomous cars are increased on-road safety and reduced accidents. Self-driving are fixed with complex state of the art technology including detailed mapping of programmed travel routes, sensory equipment and controls that recognize all known and newly encountered obstacles  both stationary and moving objects. In addition, the car’s operating systems allows for controlled braking, accelerating, steering, making this method substantially more efficient and safer than manually driven cars.

Still, despite all this progress, the question is, are people really ready to let go of the wheel?  By nature, Africans are highly suspicious people, especially when it comes to new technology. When it comes to new technology, majority of us sit back and wait to see how it goes before we try it ourselves. It is one thing to drive an automatic car, but to ask a typical African to get behind a car that is moving by itself... that will be a great challenge. In fact, it is most likely that for the first decade after the commercialization of autonomous vehicles, most Africans will still prefer a half blind driver over a self-driving vehicle. However, it is not to say that Africans are unreasonably suspicious because the potential dangers of self-driven vehicles are real, such as your self-driven car being hacked, an unexpected malfunction and such.  The nature of a typical African is just one of the reasons implementation of autonomous cars will be slow in many African nations. Still, the potential advantages are numerous. We just need a few brave fellow Africans to try it and perhaps after a few prayers, we will also be willing to let go of the wheel.