It is 1886 and the first car has been invented by Carl Benz. Enter a blocky, brick sort of shape, carried atop three skinny wheels that look as though they might collapse mid-way across the road. With its clunky movements and stiff suit of black metal, the automobile looks a little like an old dying man in a wheelchair where one breath might as well make it break. As you watch it tumble and groan down the street, it becomes increasingly difficult to believe that this is the beginning of one of the greatest inventions of mankind.
Compare the first automobile to a modern car today. Gone are the tricycle-like wheelchairs: see the sleek exterior, leather seats, and a set of four sturdy wheels. Companies like Tesla, BMW and Audi have transformed cars into metal beasts capable of driving up to 200 miles per hour, soaring through the streets at speeds no one would have ever thought possible.
But they have also done more than that. They have changed the way people live. You are less likely to find someone who doesn’t own a car than you are to find a person who owns one. Imagine that! One ‘silly’ invention a hundred and thirty-nine years ago that has somehow changed the course of history as we know it.
Another ‘silly’ invention you might have heard of is the self-driving car. Being tested today, newspapers and articles murmur of the release of this scandalous design. How, people wonder, will a car drive itself? Ignore such ignorance. I urge you to think differently. Here’s why.
Despite the advantages of cars, in the wrong hands they can be dangerous. In fact, watching the vehicles smother London’s streets gives you the image of a herd of bison, pawing restlessly before the red light, impatient to move on. Like the bison themselves, cars are heavy, strong and fast – perfect for maiming others – whether it be in a wretched moment of rush hour fury, confusion, or a late night trip home. With self driving, such issues could be avoided as machinery doesn't have the same emotional and physical needs as humans. You wouldn’t try to control a bison, why would you do the same with a car?

Moreover, self-driving cars rely on a series of sensors, complex algorithms and powerful processors which mean their sense of movement, direction and speed are exact and calculated. This differs from humans, who are prone to making little mistakes. On the road, such errors could be fatal.
And if that doesn’t convince you, let me ask you this: have you ever gotten lost? Perhaps it was on your way to your friend’s house, maybe scouring the streets for the local ASDA, or you just might have been too lazy to fiddle with that nasty navigator app. Self driving cars will solve this. No longer shall Google Maps taunt you with its riddles; no longer will you hunt the streets the best parking spot; no longer will you suffer under the prolonged torture of wondering: ‘did it say left or right?’ The self-driving car will carry you to your desired destination without causing the usual migraine.
Britain on a whole would benefit from self-driving cars. Imagine in fifty years or so when these vehicles are implemented across the country. Imagine a country, and perhaps one day, a world, in which people will no longer have to fear the streets they live in, where you can let your children walk to school on their own with ease. This utopia might very well exist one day, all it takes is for us to accept the change that is given.
We laughed once at the first cars, and we disregarded them for their flimsy wheels as dangerous and silly. Let’s not make the same mistake twice and turn our backs on what is, to be frank, a machine made miracle.