B.F. Skinner once said “The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do”
This saying is highly applicable to the new phenomenon of the self-driving car and to the way society deals with this product. For instance, one has to start thinking about the influence of the self-driving car on the design of the Dutch modern road network. For this reason, Minister Schultz van Haegen offered the report ‘Zelfrijdende auto’s, Verkenning van implicaties op het ontwerp van wegen’ (‘Self-driving cars, Exploring implications on the design of roads’) to the Dutch House of Representatives on December 23. This report amongst others describes the expectation that it will become possible to leave out signs and road markings, to design roads differently and to exchange data between vehicles. In this way, the self-driving car can contribute to eliminating traffic problems.
