Younger people might be more adept at learning new smartphone technologies than older people, but will senior citizens be the first to ride the wave of self-driving cars?
A report from Bloomberg seems to think so, highlighting the oldest woman to ever ride in an autonomous vehicle.
At 94-years-old, Florence Swanson was the oldest person to ride in Google's self-driving car, after she won a spot in the Paint The Town contest — sponsored by the world's most-valuable company — for her painting of a guitar player.
"You haven't lived until you get in one of those cars," Swanson told Bloomberg of her 30-minute experience in Google's self-driving car. "I couldn't believe that the car could talk. I felt completely safe."
John Krafcik, CEO of Google's Self-Driving Car Project, actually featured Swanson during a January presentation in Detroit, according to Bloomberg. He believes that the company's self-driving cars, and the overall autonomous driving technology, could aid senior citizens like Swanson and his own 96-year-old mother, giving them extended freedom to move around and get things they need.
"A fully self-driving car has the potential to have a huge impact on people like Florence and my mom," Krafcik told Bloomberg. "Mobility should be open to the millions around the world who don't have the privilege of holding a driver's license."
Joseph Coughlin, director of MIT's AgeLab, even sees the phenomenal possibility of senior citizens adopting self-driving technology quicker than younger people.
"For the first time in history, older people are going to be the lifestyle leaders of a new technology," Coughlin told Bloomberg. "Younger people may have had smartphones in their hands first, but it's the 50-plus consumers who will be first with smart cars."
In addition to Google, automakers like Ford and Toyota — who are each working on a self-driving vehicle — also see the benefits of autonomous cars with the elderly.
Ford's futurist Sheryl Connelly told Bloomberg that the company views autonomous driving "as a way to strategically address an aging population," while Gill Pratt, the head of the Toyota Research Institute, added that self-driving vehicles will give older people "the ability to decide for themselves where they want to move, when they want to move."
