Driverless Cars

John Giambalvo, President & CEO of Jack Giambalvo Motor Co., spoke to York East Rotary at the March 24, 2015 breakfast meeting about the new models of autonomous or driverless cars, likely to debut as soon as 2015.  Self-piloting vehicles will be used in cars, not just drones.  This eliminates the unpredictability of humans and the challenges of parallel parking.  It opens the path for new independence in travel for those with visual disabilities such as macular degeneration that affects many of our seniors.   These cars are anticipated to help improve safety of car travel, be more energy efficient, be more environmentally friendly with reduced CO2 emissions, utilize other energy sources with electric drive and electric motors, make parking more efficient, and facilitate car- pooling to thereby, reduce infrastructure stress.  Currently, laws mandate that a driver be behind the wheel.  The question is, will this change a man’s relationship with his car, when he no longer needs to sit in the driver’s seat?  Photo:  John Giambalvo, left and York East President, Don McVay, right.