As a car enthusiast, you might be firmly in the anti-self-driving cars camp. After all, where’s the fun in getting behind the wheel of a car that drives itself?
It’s also really easy to get the feeling that the dark lords of the autonomous world are here to ruin your fun forever, especially when you read about Volvo’s plans to roll out completely autonomous cars by 2020 that will rule out any kind of human intervention.
Boring. Right?
Toyota, though, are one automotive giant who say they have a very good reason for rolling out self-driving cars, and it’s got nothing to do with making the world a safer place and taking away our last bit of fun.
Instead, they say they’re making self-driving cars for elderly people who have been forced to give up driving because their body’s have been worn down by the sands of time.
Genius.
Old People Still Wanna Have Fun
Toyota recently released a new commercial that shows an old man in an S-FR concept car.
In the commercial, the man is able to relive his youth by getting behind the wheel of a self-driving car, despite being too immobile to drive himself anymore.
“As we age,” says Toyota, “mobility becomes more challenging; and larger segments of society are unable to drive or move freely. Also, the demands on healthcare systems and those who support the physically infirm continue to increase.
“Toyota believes the opportunities to improve every-day living through artificial intelligence supported technologies are boundless, with significant breakthrough potential for the development of life-saving intelligent vehicles and life-improving robots.”
Sweet.
Toyota know more than most what the effects ageing can have on a person. Japan’s life expectancy is the highest on the planet, but with so many elderly people unable to drive anymore, a huge strain is put on the nation’s resources.
Toyota: Doing it for the old people.
He believes that words can take on a transformative aspect and wants to help people make better decisions today.
His influences as a writer include Hunter S Thompson and Jack Kerouac, while among his interests outside writing are music, art, foreign films and football.
He’d one day like to own a Tesla, and still holds a candle for the Ford Capri.
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