Do our teenagers need a driving license in the new norm?
Most teenagers today have little interest to get a driver’s license (unless they are dreaming to be a ride-hailing or transport vehicle driver in the future). As the ride-hailing industry expands with new players and increased numbers, the need to drive a car seems of little interest to the smartphone addicted young adult.
40 years ago and until recently the need to have a driver’s license and then own a car was a priority as it gave mobility in a time when public transport was really bad and taking your ‘date’ home in your own car was necessary……….and more……?
With Covid-19 accelerating the development and need for clean air motoring, electric vehicles and self driving cars, we might just see inner city transportation moving into transport pods that are just robots with wheels.
This is just another small step to the future of autonomous driving which is one less thing that new drivers will have to learn. It is just another process that is moving towards the car taking complete control of the driving process from us.
We have already read reports on the fact that intelligent cars will monitor, and if necessary, adjust your speed if you are driving too fast, and that newer cars have the ability to spy on you and report back to the authorities and the manufacturer itself and while a great deal of these features have come about for safety or convenience, you cannot but help feel that the art of driving, is slowly dying, and like it or not we are already seeing the changes.
All too often, we see drivers that use a car purely as a means of transportation, that give no thought to their surroundings, driving conditions, or even other drivers around them. Today you have complex systems in new cars, starting with even basic compact cars like the Perodua Myvi (ASA debuted on the third-generation Perodua Myvi in 2017, comprising Pre-Collision Warning (up to 30 km/h), Pre-Collision Braking (up to 30 km/h), Front Departure Alert and Pedal Mis-operation Control, all of which work together to mitigate collisions) and the Proton X50 with automatic emergency braking systems which means that the drivers does not need to be as aware (The 1.5T Flagship X50 comes with active safety and driver assistance systems, including Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Collision Avoidance, Lane Keeping Assistant), lane keep assist systems (Honda Sensing) in a new Honda which stops the driver from wandering between lanes when looking at their smart phone and answering a text message, blind spot systems in a new Volvo which stops the driver from pulling out into traffic approaching them from behind and in-car entertainment systems with full connectivity and Wi-Fi means distractions are plenty when in a new car.
As the world adjust to a new norm, the automotive manufacturers are also working to quickly adjust and move into a new consumer market. Which is boring transport pods. We already saw the slow end to the manual gearbox, physical handbrake and more. So, if you are a car enthusiast, hold on to your old manual driven car and enjoy it until it dies a natural death. We are!
