Automakers do not advocate, condone or encourage drinking and driving of any kind, at any time. But will we one day strap safely into diesel-powered drunk tanks with backseat barstools? Or legally crack a cold one to pass the time during a traffic jam?
Self-driving-car researcher David Miller explains, today’s automated vehicles are good when they know where they’re going—but sometimes they don’t. “I took a Tesla for a test drive and the road curved and the computer was like ‘that curve’s too sharp for me, I’m just going to go straight,’ ” Miller says. “If you don’t realize the car is driving into the bushes, you’re going to end up in the bushes.” And likely in handcuffs, if you’ve been indulging.
Eventually when the day arrives, it would still be highly considerate of us to be alert in situations involving high risks. Despite situations wherein one is allowed or not allowed to imbibe en route, passengers need to realize that at the end of the day they’d still be commuting around in a large, heavy and complicated computerized machine that are susceptible to errors.
