Autonomous vehicles to soon become reality.
The AP (3/3, McHugh) reports vehicles are becoming gradually smarter and building toward autonomous cars in the future. Self-driving vehicles topped the agenda at the Geneva International Motor Show, despite not being showcased. The AP reports “Executives think that cars that drive themselves at least part of the time may be upon us by the end of this decade.” Google is already testing self-driving cars in Mountain View, California, Austin, Texas, and Kirkland, Washington. Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said his company sees “two roads to full autonomy, one being the more evolutionary one where basically more and more assistance systems kind of automatically lead to a fully autonomous car.” He added, “The other one is more revolutionary ... where first in restricted areas you have fully autonomous cars and over time you expand the area where you can do that.” Zetsche continued, “And I would say in restricted areas you can see fully autonomous cars in the latter path around the turn of the decade.”
        Cars becoming more likely to be hacked. USA Today (3/3, Weise, 5.45M) reports while 42 percent of Americans back more interconnected cars, and some 60 percent of Millennials fall in that category according to a study by Kelley Blue Book, some 62 percent fear that cars will be easier to hack. Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, who hacked a Jeep Cherokee last year, said “security can’t be an afterthought.” Kelley Blue Book senior director Karl Brauer said older cars are less prone to being hacked. But KBB analyst Akshay Anand said once a new car is sold, “that car is going to be a connected car.” Brauer explained, “So if you’ve got GPS or Bluetooth access or a WiFi hotspot in your car — which is coming — there’s a wide range of hacks for getting in.” Those features are important to Americans, especially the youth. Venable senior legislative adviser Chan Lieu said, “Millennials don’t want to go anywhere without being connected, so auto manufacturers are appealing to that.”