I recently visited Iceland at the end of November and what an amazing country it is with lagoons, waterfalls,ice caves and the amazing Diamond beach.
So what?
Well we were sitting on the plane home at Reykjavik airport awaiting the final checks. The planes captain then announced that there would be a delay due to there being ice on the planes wings and that someone was going to come and deice the wings. Nothing unusual as we were in Iceland after all.
The funny part was that whilst the planes wings were being deiced the stewardess was going through her safety checks and was explaining what we should do with a life jacket if we crashed in the sea.
Obviously if the weather is so cold the plane has iced up there is very little hope or need for a life jacket as you will die very quickly of cold if we did hit the sea off Iceland.
It got me thinking where you would actually use a planes life jacket in a crash.
If you crashed in the English channel there are so many life rafts crossing that you would blend in with other life jacketed hopefuls , just make sure you don’t get extradited to some foreign shore
If you’re flying say from Luton to Birmingham what’s the point of having the life jacket discussion at all.
Other than landing in the Caribbean or some other warm tropical location I am not sure how relevant the life jacket safety talk really is.
What has this got to do with driverless cars then I hear you ask ?
It got me thinking as there will be the need for driverless cars to have a pre check list it has to run through with its passengers before it starts a journey?
Will it cover what to do in case of an accident like the flight one:-
If I breakdown please wait till car has stopped before getting out and swearing
If I get a flat tyre please wait till car has stopped and I advise you it safe to leave car.
If my computer system breaks down please wait for a massive jolt and sound of smashing metal as I crash into the car in front
If I mistime a bridge and land in a river please use the life jacket under the seat!!
Your journey today is across snow covered roads so make sure you have packed a spade and keep your fingers crossed
Or perhaps some more passenger specific steps:-
Have you checked the car,the driverless car might not have spotted a traffic cone on the roof!
Have you packed your wallet
Have you packed your phone
Have you packed your passport ,if an overseas address has been input
Your calendar mentions a wedding today have you remembered the present
Or perhaps some passenger clarifications :-
You have said to drive to Holt is that the one in Norfolk or the one in Wiltshire
The destination will require us to stop for 45 minutes to charge the car do you have any preferences.
Your calendar indicates we are attending a family event at 11.30 how many minutes late do you want me to be!.
If you are used to just getting in a car and driving somewhere be warned that like a plane before take off you may need to run through a pre check list before the car starts even for a quick pop to the shops when you run out of something.
Driverless Cars will never take off 