Criticising research is rather like shooting fish in the barrel nowadays: it’s an easy target. In the corporate world, such criticism is often used to demonstrate the new and innovative thinking of today’s marketeer. No more the focus group. No more the 20 minute quantitative survey. We will be like Apple! We will trust our instinct and back our hunches! The future of driving is driverless!
Yet the headlining grabbing abilities surrounding driverless car efforts underline why knowing your consumer is so important. If nothing else, it underlines why having a clear knowledge of motivations for different sorts of drivers is crucial. Putting aside the ethical and moral questions that surrounds apportioning blame should accidents occur, the real issue in driverless cars is, well, just that – the car becomes driver less. A point which seems to have been missed in the rush to the prize.
I don’t know about you but I like driving. I enjoy the freedom behind the wheel. I cherish – always have – the independence of owning a car – just as the pioneers of the American West cherished their horse and later, their Harley. It’s partially about the driving but it’s also about a whole host of other emotions: freedom, thrill, at times, security. Oh, I’ll be curious about driverless cars: I’ll be interested in the tech both with the cars and the infrastructure, but I’m not ready to forgo that deep, almost primeval feeling that driving can give me.
For others, driverless cars could be a relief – long schleps on motorways. Stuck in the middle lane with rabbit-like nervousness because of the lorries on the inside and the hustling Execs on the outside. In busy, nose to tail traffic, perhaps when driving to unfamiliar places (although there’s another emotion I love about driving – discovery). Perhaps, even an extension to ‘reverse park assist’ in urban environments. Yep, I get the rational logic. It’s the irrationality of driving, what it means, how it makes you feel, that’s been missed in all this. I’d rather the development money went into a car that runs on tap water or air – then we’d be making real progress. And chatting to a few drivers (heaven forbid, in research perhaps!) may – just may – be quite revealing.
© The Crow Flies, 2016