“Do you hate driving in traffic jams? Ever longed to read a book, check email or watch a video instead of looking at the car ahead of you inching along into perpetuity, surrounded by honking, lane-grabbing aggression, wasting hours of your day that could be spent on something — anything — else?”
“Honda has said it will unveil the technology by the end of March in the flagship model Legend, the first car in the world able to operate nationwide using “level 3” autonomous driving technology. In practice, this is similar to Tesla’s Autopilot or Cadillac’s Super Cruise — both level 2 software that steers cars to stay in a lane and follow the vehicle in front, braking and accelerating when needed. Level 3, however, goes beyond level 2 in that the car can take over all safety-critical functions in some cases, known as “conditional autonomy,” operating without driver supervision.”
“The launch is the culmination of a six-year effort to modify the country’s road traffic legal code, regulatory framework and insurance industry in the service of commercializing level 3 self-driving technology at a national level — not to mention the tolerance of Japan’s citizens to be guinea pigs in an extraordinary experiment with robotics.”
Writer, S. (2021, February 23). Back-seat driver: How Honda stole the lead in autonomous cars. Nikkei Asia. https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Big-Story/Back-seat-driver-How-Honda-stole-the-lead-in-autonomous-cars.
Drawing similarities from Tokyo and New York, one might say both are home to very dense populations that prioritize a very high work ethic and fast pace of life. The design features of autonomous vehicles could very well work for both cities, while respecting the law within both locations. The levels of safety features will most likely come with higher price tags, making safety more of a luxury commodity, insinuated by the statement “If you live in Japan and have millions of yen to spend on a new car, you may be in luck.”
