The history of automobiles has spanned well over a century; however, it was only after World War II that people began to contemplate strengthening safety, both actively and passively, for this tool of daily transportation. Of course, this refers to the timeline in developed countries; if we consider about Taiwan, general safety awareness of the consumers only began to progressively elevate after the 1990s (before that, luxury entertainment were much more wanted than safety features). The following is a timeline of the five eras of the world’s major automotive powers for “safety” ...
- 1950 to 2000: Seat belts, airbags, ABS, cruise control
- 2000 to 2010: Electronic Stability Control (ESC), blind-spot detection, forward collision warning, lane departure warning
- 2010 to 2016: Advanced driving assistance; reverse camera, AEB, lane alignment assistance
- 2016 to 2025: Entering into the “semi-automated-driving” era; active lane alignment assistance, adaptive cruise control ACC, automatic parking
- 2025～: The era of fully autonomous driving. However, I have some reservations about this time frame. As mentioned in my previous articles, I consider that some time point beyond 2028 should be a more realistic projection.
As we can see from the above timetable, after 2000, the research and development of safety equipment began to advance comprehensively and rapidly, pushing automotive history to another new milestone in less than 30 years: the fully self-driving car. Of course, many may not agree with the final stage of this timeline set by the U.S. government... “Will fully autonomous driving enable the highest level of driving safety?” However, when AI begins to replace human brains and limbs, revolutionizing our ways of life and various industries, we should be aware that the arrival of this fifth stage is only a matter of time and that most of us are likely to experience it in our lifetimes.