9.14.2006
Driverless car invades China - Coming to a Ridiculously Unsafe Road Near You
The first Chinese unmanned automobile was unveiled last week at the Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo in Changchun. The vehicle, a modified First Auto Works Hongqi HQ3 Sedan, can detect road conditions thanks to two cameras that feed information to an onboard computer. Two cameras seem hardly enough to keep track of the hundreds of crazy drivers and jay-walkers one encounters in the course of a day, but the manufacturer assures us that the vehicle can staywithin the lines, stop at intersections, make turns, adapt to changing road conditions and, while the car topped out at 37 mph during the demo, can safely reach
speeds of up to 93 mph before becoming “confused.”
One can only presume what a confused car is capable of doing—-send crowd of pedestrians flying into the air, T-bone tractor trailer, become one with oak
tree—-but we’ll have to wait to find out. Surprisingly, it’s not ready for mass-production just yet.
Despite some of the safety concerns, nothing says “I’m a rock star!” quite like being one of the first to roll up to the club in your own driverless car. And in case you’re ever in doubt of your pimp status, it’s fitted with a feature that compliments
passengers as it drives. Which should offer a great comfort, I’m sure, when it’s hurtling you off a cliff at 94 mph ;-)
A PimpWiz Exclusive By, Elizabeth Yun
