KPMG’s second Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index was published on Monday and it rates the Netherlands as the country most ready for the adoption of driverless cars. But there’s a fly in the ointment. In fact, millions of them: cyclists.
In the report, KPMG’s digital advisory manger for automotive Stijn de Groen was blunt: “We have a lot of bicycles.”
He added: “In urban, crowded areas it will be very difficult to start autonomous driving.”
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In this future, pedestrians and cyclists may have to be learn to get out of the way of AVs.
Charlie Simpson, co-head of KPMG’s “mobility 2030” project, on the KPMG booth at MOVE in London.CARLTON REID
“There will have to be some reprogramming,” admitted Simpson. “Right now we’re at the stage of a guy with a red flag walking in front of the [19th Century] car. When that guy went, and the cars started to go faster, humans learned not to step in front of them. We are going to have to go through that evolution.”
I repeat: fuck off.
Though what people are supposed to do once they get out of the cars I never understand. In urban areas everybody, except maybe Donald Trump, is a pedestrian sometimes.