Driving Me Crazy

So I have read from time to time about the soon "coming to a showroom near you" fully autonomous self-driving cars.  Just like we have been seeing in sci-fi movies and shows for years.  Indeed, they are expected to hit the markets by 2019.  And everyone is climbing on board, with most of the major auto manufacturers, Google and Apple all with plans in various stages.  What an exciting time to be alive!


http://www.businessinsider.com/report-10-million-self-driving-cars-will-be-on-the-road-by-2020-2015-5


Exciting for some anyway.  I, for one, love driving.  I find it relaxing and enjoyable - though you would not need to twist my arm to give up the 10 hour drive in a van with kids home to see the grandparents.  I drive a stick shift and love to be in control and based on commercials for most sports cars there are a lot of folks who love it too.  While I do recognize that not everyone might love driving like I do, I do think most people like the sense of being in control - or someone being in control - of something as dangerous as a car moving at high speeds.


I realize that the self-driving cars, when the bugs are worked out, should dramatically increase safety, not decrease it.  Indeed, I recently saw an article probing what auto insurers are going to do for premiums when the roads become abundantly safer due to self-driving cars with computers and sensors that can react to situations far faster than any human.  Premiums will have to adjust downwards and profits will narrow.


Well, fear not GEICOs and Progressives of the world, for I think I have a niche for you to fill.  You can sell cyber attack insurance against the inevitable hacking someone will eventually launch on self-driving cars.  These cars will be wirelessly connected and they are operated by computers, so it is just a matter of time before some hacker breaks a code and takes over a car.  They could do it to steal it, cause it to go some place other than where its passenger wants it to go (even with the captive passenger in it) or even wreck it.  Can you imagine what would happen if terrorists were able to take over thousands of cars at once or program their own cars to go on a rampage?  I can and it would not be pretty.


Now I am sure some smart techie funded by auto companies will tell me how this cannot happen.  Certainly tech titans like Google and Apple being in the business will lead to secure systems.  Certainly the resources of major auto manufacturers will also be brought to bear to insure the highest in security, just like the security on high-end luxury cars today that are so impenetrable.  Why with immobilizers and 96-bit encryption there is no way they can be hacked to run amok. 


Okay then, while you are thinking that through, check out the attached Bloomberg article on how some smart thieves have figured out how to break the code on keyless systems and immobilizers and steal some low-end cars, like Lamborghinis, Bentleys, Porsches and such.   Indeed, they report that 42% of the auto thefts in London are done just this way. 


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-14/vw-has-spent-two-years-trying-to-hide-a-big-security-flaw


Kinda' gives you that warm, fuzzy, safe feeling about self-driving cars, doesn't it.  Me thinks for now I will continue to enjoy driving myself, thank you.
And if the havoc driverless cars can bring gives you the willies, think about driverless trains.  Kind of sounds like a movie I once saw.


http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/08/driverless-trains-why-does-chicago-us.html
Of course, if you go to the link on wireless trains you will see a nice video of a train crash from when the operator fell asleep.  Tough choice - sleeping operators or hackers in charge.  Sort of sounds like the upcoming election choices.