Interior safety challenges for autonomous vehicles

Although autonomous vehicles are expected to bring forward substantial safety and mobility gains but one cannot solely rely on the technology’s discretion in order to eliminate threats

As one of the most influential mega trends to have surfaced in recent times, ‘autonomy’ is slated to impact the entire ecosystem as carmakers and technology companies have realized how transformative self-driving-cars can be. With the aim to revolutionize present-day vehicle architecture, the automotive industry is gradually working towards achieving the long-term goal. However, the ‘drive’ towards autonomous vehicles can only be achieved once the functionality and design of various vehicle components can be re-imagined, catering to the autonomous environment. This is where vehicle interiors are expected to transform the most, gaining newer functionality and flexibility once traditional components used for driver inputs (such as steering wheels, pedals and gear shifters) become obsolete.