It was announced today that Shenzhen in China is going to issue 200,000 electronic ID's to
vehicles with a pilot of 8 installed for the first test as a pilot that could lead to real time tracking of all cars.
If this is successful it will eventually be rolled out to
all vehicles in China.
The reasoning for this is that China wants to lead the world
in autonomous vehicles and as a part of that wants every vehicle to be able to
talk to every other vehicle and road infrastructure.
This is pretty much essential to have automated vehicles know what is
going on around them as that is the basis for decision making. As automated vehicles move onto the road they need to know the status
of vehicles surrounding them as well as the status of the roads and roadworks.
If an autonomous vehicle knows that the car next to it that wants to change
lanes is manually driven, its response may be different to what it would do if
the car was in autonomous mode as people, unlike autonomous cars, are unpredictable and don't always make rational choices.
This sort of system is essential, and a great start and of course similar systems will be required around the world for many of the same reasons but the implementation will most likely be very different.
I said similar systems will be required but it will most likely be similar only in the sense of knowing what vehicle and road conditions are like but the social and political structures between China and western democracies are very different.
Consider the possibility of a government being able to instantly know the location of any vehicle at any point in time, tie this in with police and transport department databases and you know who owns the vehicle and all their details.
Law enforcement agencies would be in seventh heaven and crime detection would be far easier and faster with computer evidence being presented in court.
A great leap forward, Yes? maybe.
In Australia now we have the Attorney General passing laws for metadata retention and access by law agencies when most other countries are getting rid of theirs as well as increased powers for border protection and deportation laws. All of which are lauded and said to be for the greater good of the people and, after all If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear.
What happens if the government changes and we get a government that doesn't care about civil rights or personal privacy and we have a ready built system in every car that can track any person of interest at any time. Political opponents and possibly innocent suspects from metadata trolling or for any other arbitrary reason can be tracked in real time, anywhere on a whim.
For China, as a totalitarian state to introduce this technology now must give pause for thought to the west to decide if we can really afford or want to give up this level of privacy.
This technology can be introduced without the tracking facilities but it will ultimately be decided by legislators and we have to hope that it is done with human rights in mind as well as law enforcement interests, but the way the world is going at the moment, human rights are starting to come a poor second to perceived security risks.
Autonomous vehicles have a great future but this is just one of the obstacles that will slow the implementation in the the west and will debate this for some time.
China will just do it, cause they can.
This technology in cars across the country will give China a great starting point (privacy issues not withstanding) and a huge head start in implementing this technology nation wide. The west will not have this in place for years for many reasons including privacy as mentioned, but for another more pragmatic western priority - who will pay for it?
Most likely not the government, and why should I pay for it so others who can afford automated cars can benefit?
When you think about it, the totalitarian state has a distinct advantage in implementing any technology as they can override any rules or privacy concern for "The greater good" of the nation.
If the state wants it, the state can have it. In the west we have to convince people and sell them the benefits as well as educate them to accept that the technology will be a benefit to the people and not be outweighed by the cost or social implications. There has to be a clear cost/benefit return before it will get of the ground.
Education has to be a major factor, people don't want a car to make decisions for them, after all I can drive better than a computer, can't I?
Selling safety is an easy way to go. Back in the seventies, and yes I am speaking from memory, the road toll was horrific. In Western Australia there was a road death at least every day. Now there is half that and the population and number of vehicles on the road is far larger than it was then.
What made the difference? In large part it is technology. Seat belts, air bags, breathalysers, ABS, ESC and crumple zones have reduced the road toll significantly.A small collision 40-50 years ago often had a fatal or serious impact on the people involved, today the same collision is a minor thing with little or no human damage but thousand of dollars in (easily replacable) vehicle damage.
Progressive automation will drop this death and injury toll far lower than even todays' level.
This is a key selling point.
Today, in our local paper there is a major article asking to what can be done to reduce the road toll? Recently we have had a spate of country road deaths.
Perhaps one of the ways to reduce this is to have government spending more on autonomous implementation, raising awareness and spreading the safety message that way. Maybe then we can start to achieve a real, permanent, sustainable reduction in the number of people killed on our roads and end this carnage for once and for all.
We live in hope.
Autonomous vehicles have a great future but this is just one of the obstacles that will slow the implementation in the the west and will debate this for some time.
China will just do it, cause they can.
This technology in cars across the country will give China a great starting point (privacy issues not withstanding) and a huge head start in implementing this technology nation wide. The west will not have this in place for years for many reasons including privacy as mentioned, but for another more pragmatic western priority - who will pay for it?
Most likely not the government, and why should I pay for it so others who can afford automated cars can benefit?
When you think about it, the totalitarian state has a distinct advantage in implementing any technology as they can override any rules or privacy concern for "The greater good" of the nation.
Education has to be a major factor, people don't want a car to make decisions for them, after all I can drive better than a computer, can't I?
Selling safety is an easy way to go. Back in the seventies, and yes I am speaking from memory, the road toll was horrific. In Western Australia there was a road death at least every day. Now there is half that and the population and number of vehicles on the road is far larger than it was then.
What made the difference? In large part it is technology. Seat belts, air bags, breathalysers, ABS, ESC and crumple zones have reduced the road toll significantly.A small collision 40-50 years ago often had a fatal or serious impact on the people involved, today the same collision is a minor thing with little or no human damage but thousand of dollars in (easily replacable) vehicle damage.
Progressive automation will drop this death and injury toll far lower than even todays' level.
This is a key selling point.
Today, in our local paper there is a major article asking to what can be done to reduce the road toll? Recently we have had a spate of country road deaths.
Perhaps one of the ways to reduce this is to have government spending more on autonomous implementation, raising awareness and spreading the safety message that way. Maybe then we can start to achieve a real, permanent, sustainable reduction in the number of people killed on our roads and end this carnage for once and for all.
We live in hope.
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