DESIGN
DYNAMICS
HUFFINGTON
06.24.12
“WE NEED TO CREATE SOLUTIONS
TO MAKE SOCIETY BETTER .”—CLAY DEAN
people around, and they will
radically change car design.
Cars that drive themselves will
alleviate traffic. They’ll be more
evenly spaced on the highway,
and get into fewer crashes. They’ll
also change the way people think
about driving and what a car
should even look like.
“You basically rewrite the
whole book for what the car is,”
Hall says. “Do you need windows
in an autonomous vehicle? No,
you don’t. It changes everything.”
Automated driving seems
like the exact opposite of what
would inspire passion for cars,
but it could it could open up
huge opportunities in design,
Welburn says, and it could help
people fall in love with cars
again. Automated driving seems
like the exact opposite of what
would inspire passion for cars.
First, there’d be no real driving.
Second, they don’t give the driver
a sense of freedom - the car does
all the work.
Still, Welburn thinks drivers
who enjoy their commutes more
will enjoy being in their vehicles.
They could check email, work on
their computers, watch a movie,
maybe even nap. It also could give
older drivers who are losing their
reflexes the ability to stay mobile
even if they weren’t driving.
Maybe society could lower the
driving age, if the car was doing
most of the work.
“I think people fall in love with
a car for many reasons,” Welburn
says. “Some love to drive, some
love the fashion. And with
autonomous vehicles, some people
might just love the time they get
to be in their car.”
Population trends will also
make car sharing more popular.
In the U.S., growth is expected
in Western cities, the Sunbelt
states and along the I-85 corridor
between Raleigh, N.C. and Atlanta,
where there is often a lack of a
mass transit. This will lead to
commuters seeking alternatives
such as the Zipcar, a rental-car
company that offers hourly and
day rates to its customers.
Welburn says car sharing also
will inevitably result in sleek,