Why self-driving cars are safe

The National Transport Commission (NTC) has released a video aiming to alleviate some fears and set the ground work for the inevitable autonomous driving future.

Based around many of the guidelines previously released by the NTC in a report last year, the video outlines the benefits of autonomous motoring, while also presenting some of the current challenges to overcome for autonomous driving to become a practical reality.

According to the video, only legislative and civil law issues stand in the way of a safer, smoother traffic flow in future. The video doesn't address recent media reports highlighting the technical failures of driverless vehicles, or instances of drivers who have been too trusting of the new technology.

At under two minutes, the video is brief, but emphasises the need for both legislative and infrastructural reform to accommodate the in-car technology. Autonomous motoring is gaining support in other quarters, based primarily on its potential to reduce road trauma , but the video also notes that it will reduce congestion and help the environment. The NTC even squeezes in a reference to ride-sharing, which would reduce reduce personal transport costs in future.

Far from a Skynet-like dystopia of rampaging autobots that some anticipate, the NTC looks forward to a rosy future for road traffic management...