One of the key selling points for self-driving cars is the ability to transport people who cannot drive themselves. Largely, this group is comprised of the very young and the very old.
The very old, in particular, are a huge market for some of the wealthier nations on earth. Japan, for instance.
A big question is how readily the elderly will take to self-driving cars.
I think they will take to it like crazy. While old people have a reputation as technology late adopters, I think this is more a question of motivation than aptitude.
A lot of technology just isn’t useful enough to justify spending time and effort on, for an eighty year-old.
But when a technology brings a lot of utility (email, for instance), I have seen the elderly pick it right up.
Originally published at www.davidincalifornia.com on January 21, 2016.
David Silver 