India Bans Self-Driving Cars
It seems that there are more than technology barriers to deploying driverless cars. A full 75% of people polled by IBM across India indicated that they were in favor of self-driving cars due to the reduction in traffic and pollution, given that 10 of the most polluted cities are in India. The government, however, cites unemployment as the reason for the ban. Production of driverless cars is still permitted and some Indian companies have formed partnerships with the likes of Bosch and Nissan.
India’s transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari, says “We won’t allow any technology that takes away jobs. In a country where you have unemployment, you can’t have a technology that ends up taking people’s jobs.” This although India is lacking about 22,000 of the needed commercial drivers. Gadkari aims to both open 50-100 commercial driver training facilities and developing a government-run ride sharing program. “The government platform will help get more people employment opportunities,” said Gadkari. “The idea is in the primary stage but we’re working on it seriously.”
According to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, this stance may ultimately not make much difference. India’s roads are so hazardous and congested that driverless cars may not be a realistic option anytime soon.
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