Home Tech Imagining a future where Chicagoans get around in free, driverless cars

Imagining a future where Chicagoans get around in free, driverless cars

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Imagining a future where Chicagoans get around in free, driverless cars

The interior smelled of pine air freshener. He took a quick look around. It was clean, the seats next to it were gray and plush. The driver and passenger seats were still there, as was the steering wheel. This was just a normal SUV converted into a self-driving car. A kind of evolution. Interesting. His mother knocked on the window and Zelu was surprised when it opened in response. She and her mom looked at each other for a moment and then they both laughed. “Wow,” his mother said, with a surprised expression on her face. “I know,” Zelu nodded.

“Will you be okay?”

“I’m just going to the lake,” Zelu said. “I’ll be fine.”

“Call me if you need me. “I can come find you.”

“Please prepare for your journey,” an automated voice announced. Her mother jumped back, as if the truck was going to suddenly run over her.

“Relax, Mom,” Zelu said. “Its sensors know you’re there. “It won’t move until you are a safe distance away.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” his mother said.

“You’re about to do it.”

His mother waved as the vehicle slowly drove away. Zelu waved back.

And then she was left alone and her life was in the hands of the SUV.

“This is so strange,” he muttered as he watched the steering wheel move on its own. It was the first time I was alone in a moving vehicle. There was no one there, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a presence; something I was in control. It was like being led by a ghost. “Or should I say a nobody,” she said to herself, laughing.

When the vehicle stopped to turn onto the main road, his joy faded.

She believed in the science behind autonomous vehicles. The technology had been around for years and she had been researching this new taxi service for the past few months. The idea of ​​being able to order one with her phone like an Uber and not have to deal with a human being looking at her strangely, asking her awkward questions, could be a serial killer, etc., was a wonderful idea. More importantly, it would free her from her family. Every time she asked him to take her to one of them, they responded with this strange mix of pity, control, and duty. She didn’t think they even knew they had done this. It always made her feel pathetic and childish, even when it was one of her younger brothers driving her. Oh, to be free of that feeling.

However, at that moment, he wanted to scream in panic. He dug his nails into the armrests of his chair. Despite all the research and assurances from the customer service staff I had spoken to, this was very different now that it was happening in real time. What if there was a technical problem and it was miscalculated? What if another driver did something crazy that the SUV couldn’t understand or adapt to? What if there was a solar flare and the whole car broke down?

“Shit!” he screamed as the SUV turned. “I’m going to die!”

Then they set off. Zelu screamed and laughed in relief, still sweating profusely. The vehicle was going exactly the speed limit, which meant everyone else was passing it. Several people looked at him twice, some pointed, and two held up phones to record videos. Zelu was too stressed to pay much attention to him. They were approaching the road.

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