Autonomous driving could make the driver’s license superfluous. But does it come to this?
The idea is clear: you sit in the car, enter a destination, and lean back while the vehicle navigates itself to the destination. It brakes, steers and avoids hazards. The computer controlled car acts carefully and never gets tired or drives under the influence of alcohol and such. The idea has caught on, even if many do not want to give up control. But autonomous driving should also be safer. You can drive an autonomous car even after a frenetic party if you’re not driving yourself.
Against this background, some young people consider whether he or she should even have one driver’s license should do? Is it still worth getting a driver’s license or is it a waste of money if the car can drive itself? Two factors play a role in this consideration: 1. Will autonomous driving soon be available for purchase? And 2.: Will it be able to drive without human assistance?
The answer to the first question is an unequivocal no. VW alluded to this as early as 2016 and believed that autonomous driving would be in a few years market ready. It still isn’t. Autonomous driving has just reached level 4. This means that the car can drive itself most of the time. So you can focus on other things. Whether you still have to be able to drive is still to be clarified. This is more of a political than a technical question. The development is then done, but the technology must also be affordable. Above all, the sensors drive up the costs and here it is above all the lidar sensor. This is essential for most professionals, even if Tesla want to do without it.
Betting on Tesla could also be a mistake. Despite the numerous promises that this will happen soon, Tesla still cannot present a Level 4 car that can actually be driven by itself. Hence what happened with Teslas accidents, because the people believethat the car can navigate by itself.
As for the second question, whether it will really drive itself remains to be seen. Some industry insiders don’t believe that level 5 can be reached. This is the level where the cars can actually drive themselves in all conditions. Then you don’t need a driver’s license anymore and the driving school, however modern it may be, can close. But technology could also give this industry competition, because AIs are trained to help people to teach to drive.