A 93-year-old grandfather-of-five has given a resounding thumbs-up to autonomous driving technology currently being developed by Nissan – saying it has the potential to keep older motorists like him mobile and independent in later life.
Brad Ashton from Enfield, experienced the ground-breaking tech for himself this week as Nissan marked the culmination of its evolvAD research project. He was invited by Nissan to take a ride along rural roads near the company’s Technical Centre in Cranfield, where work on autonomous driving (AD) systems continues apace.
Brad, a retired comedy scriptwriter who has prepared material for the likes of Groucho Marx, Tommy Cooper and Les Dawson, has been driving since 1947.
He currently runs a Nissan Micra which he uses to help him look after his wife Valerie as her primary carer; and to visit a bakery in Cockfosters, not far from his home. The couple have been married since 1961.
Reflecting on his autonomous-driving experience, he said: “New technology like this is fantastic and it’s important to embrace it.
“Cars were different back in 1947 – you had to crank them up – so I’ve always wondered what the cars of the future would be like – and this is it. I was very proud to be the first older person to try this car out.
“It was exciting travelling on these winding country roads with the team – I thought I would feel frightened or worried but felt safe and relaxed throughout the experience.
“Being independent and still being able to drive is really important to me – my car is vital as my local bus service is quite poor, and my wife can’t get on a bus. People like me that depend on a car, or that can’t drive, will benefit from this tech one day to help them stay in touch with friends and family and keep them from feeling isolated, particularly in rural areas where there are fewer transport options like taxis.
“One thing though – it’d be great if the driverless cars of the future could find you a parking space.”
Brad’s trip coincided with the release of the results of a major survey commissioned by Nissan, focusing on the ways in which technology can help older people combat the twin problems of loneliness and isolation.
The survey, carried out by OnePoll and involving 1,000 participants aged over 70, revealed that more than half said they would feel disempowered if they had to stop driving and nearly two thirds (63 per cent) noted the importance of not having to rely on others for everyday transport needs such as going shopping or visiting friends.
Sixty-four per cent of respondents also said they would like the ‘inventions of the future’ – such as driverless cars – to help them remain independent, with 1-in-5 saying they would happily take a ride in a self-driving car if it helped them stay mobile without assistance.
Mobility is also vital in helping older people maintain highly-prized face-to-face contact with others too, with 21 per cent saying they would prefer to communicate in-person with friends and family members, rather than use an online alternative.
Nissan has a well-deserved reputation as a pioneer in the field of autonomous driving. The company is one of five industry partners which this week announced they had successfully completed the UK’s latest autonomous driving research project – evolvAD – the most rigorous to date.
It builds on previous Nissan-backed AD projects undertaken in the UK – HumanDrive and ServCity – with the overall aim being to bring autonomous mobility closer to reality as part of the company’s global vision for a safer, cleaner and more inclusive world.
As technical lead for evolvAD, Nissan has helped facilitate the driving of more than 16,000 autonomous miles along UK motorways, urban roads, residential streets and country lanes, with no accidents.
Impressive strides have also been made in Nissan’s home country of Japan, where a test vehicle with no driver in the car navigated a public road in a complex urban environment this week.
David Moss, Senior Vice President, Research & Development for Nissan’s AMIEO region, said: “It has been a privilege working with our dedicated partners to advance AD mobility. As well as making driving safer by reducing human error, and cleaner by improving efficiency, this technology can give many more people access to mobility who may not have it today due to location, age or disability.
‘‘Our talented UK team at Nissan Technical Centre Europe in Cranfield will continue to develop this technology, and we’re excited by the prospect of bringing AD mobility services to customers in the coming years. We were proud and delighted to welcome Brad to test the technology on typical UK rural roads and show others what the future holds.’’