Will driving licenses be a thing of the past in the age of self-driving cars?

Driverless vehicles may seem  a long way off at the minute, but over the coming years they are going to become a lot more commonplace with people using them on a daily basis. Will it mean the end of the driving licence and changes to the rules of the road?

All around the world you can already see projects that are developing the technology that will eventually be used to bring driverless cars to our roads. For example in south-east London a white droid delivers takeaway food at a speed of just 4mph. In Paris and Helsinki robot busses are already in use.

Here in the UK current plans are to test driverless cars on roads and motorways starting in 2019. 

So far, there is no international safety standard for driverless vehicles - and each country will be responsible for writing its own rules. People are questioning whether rules for driverless vehicles should be national.

A hot issue is what ethics driverless vehicles should adopt. For example, in the case of an unavoidable accident, should a fully autonomous vehicle be programmed to career off the road, risking the lives of the people inside the vehicle, or continue into a pedestrians crossing the road?
Because human drivers make split second, instinctual decisions, human behavior cant be referenced to come up with the right answer.

Technology to handle these situations may be quite some time away meaning that for now humans will still continue to be used as back-up drivers within the vehicles.

Until cars are fully automated and don't need human input, manufacturers won't be able to dispense with steering and braking controls, meaning that YES people will still need driving licences and they'll have to ready to take control at short notice - so challenges like distraction and drunkenness will remain.

For more in depth information please read this piece by the BBC Which goes in to much more detail.

http://www.radar-detectors.co.uk

Just give me the points and a fine

A driver caught using his mobile phone asked for penalty points and a fine rather than opt for a "boring" course, police have said.

The unnamed motorist stated on a caution form he had completed a driver improvement course the day before.

He wrote: "Just give me the points and fine - I did the mobile phone course yesterday. It was as boring as hell."

Those who commit motoring offences are sometimes offered courses as an alternative to penalties. No details about where the man was stopped have been released.
.
The force's road policing team shared a photo of the form on Twitter with the comment: "Some will never learn".

Russia says drivers must not have 'sex disorders'

Russia has listed transsexual and transgender people among those who will no longer qualify for driving licences. 

Fetishism, exhibitionism and voyeurism are also included as "mental disorders" now barring people from driving.

The government says it is tightening medical controls for drivers because Russia has too many road accidents.

"Pathological" gambling and compulsive stealing are also on the list. Russian psychiatrists and human rights lawyers have condemned the move.

The announcement follows international complaints about Russian harassment of gay-rights activists.
In 2013 Russia made "promoting non-traditional lifestyles" illegal.

Valery Evtushenko at the Russian Psychiatric Association voiced concern about the driving restrictions, speaking to the BBC Russian Service. He said some people would avoid seeking psychiatric help, fearing a driving ban.

The Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights called the new law "discriminatory". It said it would demand clarifications from the Russian Constitutional Court and seek support from international human rights organisations.

But the Professional Drivers Union supported the move. "We have too many deaths on the road, and I believe toughening medical requirements for applicants is fully justified," said the union's head Alexander Kotov.

However, he said the requirements should not be so strict for non-professional drivers.

Mikhail Strakhov, a Russian psychiatric expert, told BBC Russian that the definition of "personality disorders" was too vague and some disorders would not affect a person's ability to drive a car safely.