In a speech he gives at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), professor Bart van Arem says that a paradigm shift is needed in how we relate to cars.

The experts believes that our vehicles should in fact be doing more for us, handling some of the chores we have to do daily. And if this means allowing them to drive themselves, then so be it.

“Cars should be taking over more of our tasks,” van Arem explained. “Because no matter how good we think we are at driving, we are no match for technology when it comes to reaction time and alertness,” he says in the speech.

His opinion is echoed by that of other experts, who believe that it's finally time to regulate driving by allowing cars to take care of themselves.

This would ensure better traffic flow, more fluidity when large numbers of vehicles converge in a single area, as well as lower numbers of traffic accidents overall.

The professor speaks about mobility in general, which means that he is not strictly referring to cars. He belies that mobility should be better, faster, more reliable, cleaner, safer and, also affordable.

“TU Delft is one of the global top five in the field of mobility; it is bracketed with [the Massachusetts Institute of Technology] MIT, [University of California] UC Berkeley and Imperial College [London],” adds van Arem.

“More and more systems are becoming available to support motorist’s driving tasks,” the expert says.

“Lane Keeping Support systems warn the driver if it looks as though he or she is accidentally wandering out of his or her lane and Adaptive Cruise Control regulates the following distance and the speed of a vehicle,” the professor goes on to say.

He is however puzzled by the reactions that some people display when being told that automated driving of vehicles is the most efficient way to go all around.

“People can easily see the point of a system that warns the driver about dangerous situations. They are, however, wary of systems that take over driving tasks, such as Adaptive Cruise Control, except in special circumstances like traffic-jams,” he says.

“A striking point is that people accept these systems more easily once they have tried them,” van Arem adds.

The professor believes that intelligent cars will become increasingly common over the coming years. Analysts say that those resisting change will eventually be swept away by the tide.

“To summarize, Intelligent Transport Systems may in the coming 10 to 15 years contribute to 50% fewer traffic-jams, 25% fewer traffic fatalities, 10% less CO2 emission and 20% less air pollution,” van Arem concludes.