Blogs

Connected cars, how safe are we while driving them?

It is a known fact that car manufacturers are now replacing mechanical parts in cars by electronic devices and parts. From changing gears to braking, we are now constantly moving towards vehicles that run more on electronics than mechanics. Where this raises serious concerns is the fact that these electronic parts, based on software engineering can be hacked. This is due to the fact that software operating cars are made up of codes, which can be hacked, manipulated, or can have bugs. New research has even shown that one can remotely access a car’s air-conditioning and door locks. Such issues might be proving that indeed, while car manufacturers are constantly aiming at creating the car a driver would have the most control upon; it is exposing us to many dangers. Is it possible that we one day reach a point where our cars are so much electronically controlled that we end up driving so-called ‘computers on wheels’? Will we have to ‘update’ software in our cars just like we do for our mobile devices?

One step ahead of connected cars are self-driving cars. This has received much acclaim overall, people having been questioned over the issue having shown quite a lot of interest in the possibility of using a self driving car. However, once again, reliability and safety have proven to raise concerns. One of the issues raised was the fact that in case of a problem arising, a person would have no power to intervene. This in turn raises questions concerning the safety. What would be the fate of a person travelling in a self- driving car if there is potential danger that the car has failed to recognise, and the person has no possibility of intervening to change the course of events?

 

Manual v/s Automatic gear; is the manual gearbox dying?

Choosing between a manual and an automatic gearbox has become one of the main concerns of anyone who buys a new car today. As the automatic gearbox gains ground, most drivers tend to primarily think about the ease of driving. A manual gear shift means endless shifting, especially if the person drives in urban areas a lot. On the other hand, an automatic gearbox stands for much more relaxed driving. The fact that automatic transmissions require much lesser commitment from the driver is surely one point which makes an automatic transmission a better option than the manual one.

Moreover, while earlier automatic transmissions raised concerns about fuel consumption, engineering has, down the years, proven these wrong. Fact is that car manufacturers have proven that the greater the number of gears, the smoother becomes the transmission in between each of them, which is definitely in favour of diminished fuel consumption.