Older More Open to Driverless Car

And more of us will have to face that prospect

By Bill McLauchlan

Toot your horn, folks. We’ve just passed a new milestone. For the first time ever, there are now more of us aged 65 and over than there are under age 15, according to Statistics Canada.

It’s not news if you’ve been paying attention. It’s been coming for ages. The tail-end of the Baby Boom accounts for the recent scale-tipping revelation. And the disparity will only accelerate as aging GenXers drive into the picture. But are we ready for it?

Setting aside the economic, social and health care ramifications for the moment, consider the impact this silver-haired tsunami will undergo when, not if, it crashes headlong into the age of the driverless car.

If you’re a part of this growing demographic, or soon to be, how do you feel about the prospect of autonomous cars that could make your driving redundant?

Think the driverless car is still far off? Think again. Many of its elements are already here in the cars we drive today. We’ve got cars that park themselves, maintain safe separation in traffic and brake automatically if needed, emergency brake, stay in their own lane, check visual blind spots, navigate using GPS, and more. There's even a pilot project underway in Sweden right now and another about to get underway in the UK. So it’s not too far a stretch to see the day looming when the driver isn’t expected to take control at any time.

Newspress

Does this leave you feeling threatened? Fearful? Fascinated? Ready to welcome this coming technology and leave the driving to a system of microchips, sensors and cameras?

Well, surprise, surprise. Contrary to the conventional stereotype about “old dogs and new tricks” it seems those over the age of 50 are leaving the door open to driverless cars. In a recent online survey the AARP (American Association of Retired People) found more openness to the cutting-edge driverless car. AARP asked people, “If you had the opportunity, would you take a ride in a driverless car?”

The idea was popular with people 50 and older, and the older they were, the more open they were to the idea. Here’s what some of them have to say about being in a driverless car:

Newspress

“Absolutely! Because it’s safe and there’d be less congestion on the road and I could get where I was going,” remarked one woman.

“I’m adventurous, so I would want to try that,” said another female respondent. “And I think nowadays it’s probably, you know, it’s the new future anyway.”

An equally intrigued male reported, “I would. I think it’s so neat to be in a driverless car. I really do.”

Not everyone in the survey was as trusting, though. One woman demurred by admitting, “No I don’t trust technology enough, it’s just another thing to screw up.”

Control was a major issue for one older male, who commented, “I think it has a long way to go to assure that it’s a safe way of transportation and even at that point I probably won’t be willing to give up control of the vehicle.”

His concern echoes a similar view from a 2014 University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) survey in which 96.2 percent of respondents expressed concern when asked about riding in a driverless vehicle. And 60 percent said they’d be very concerned. Respondents in that survey ranged in age from 18 to more than 60.

So, not everyone appears sold on the idea of putting their butt in a driverless car but, if the AARP survey is anything to go by, Baby Boomers and GenXers look more likely to be faster off the mark.

Driving Legend and Oldest Ever Contestant Enters Economy Run

By Tom Mack

Norman Dewis, OBE, chief test driver and development engineer for Jaguar Cars from 1952 to 1985, becomes the oldest ever contestant tomorrow when he starts in this year’s MPG Marathon – at the tender age of 95!

Dewis, born in 1920, enters the contest, rated as the UK’s most prestigious lean-driving challenge, in a rear wheel drive, 2.0 litre 163 horsepower Jaguar XE alongside Jaguar Heritage communications officer, Tony O’Keeffe.

Newspress

Over the years, Dewis played a major role in the development of some of the luxury automaker’s most iconic models, including the E-Type, XJ6, XJ-S and many more. He was behind the wheel of a Jaguar XK120 in October 1953 when it reached 172.412 mph (278.273 km/h) at Jabbeke, Belgium, a record for production cars.

Awarded the OBE for services to the motor industry in Britain’s 2015 New Year’s Honours List, Dewis is still attending events related to Jaguar and giving talks about his work for the company.

Astonishingly, his entry follows hard on the heels of the event’s two youngest ever entrants, Eloise Peabody-Rolf and Rory Carmichael, both 17. They’re members of The Under 17 Car Club, a national road safety charity which teaches young people to drive to a high standard before they are allowed out on a public highway, and have been driving since the age of 11.

In this year’s Marathon, taking place tomorrow and Wednesday, over a 300-mile (484 km) route across the southern English countryside, they will compete against Dewis’s Jaguar in a 1.6-litre Honda Civic.

Event organizer Jerry Ramsdale, commented: “We are delighted Norman Dewis has entered this year’s MPG Marathon as our oldest ever entrant. It will be great to see how such a driving legend, famed for his high speed driving exploits, copes with the demands of driving as frugally and as economically as possible in one today’s most modern cars.

“And his entry, just days after our two youngest-ever entrants, shows the really broad appeal that the event has. It promises to be a fascinating challenge.”

Car makers entering this year’s 15th running of the Marathon include BMW, Caterham, Ford, Peugeot, Renault, Citroen, Honda, Mazda, Kia and Jaguar.

Electric and hybrid vehicle classes will again be included, joining the more familiar diesel and petrol-engined cars and vans that traditionally take part in the event.

There are eight main classes of passenger cars, restricted to a maximum carbon ceiling of 190g/km, including hybrid, range-extender and fully electric vehicles, plus five main classes of vans up to 3,500 kg gross vehicle weight.

Malibu Clocks up Major Milestone

Venerable sedan’s 51-year legacy bridges generation gap
from Boomers to Gen Xers, Gen Ys and modern Millennials

By Tom Mack

Fifty-one years after it was introduced as Chevrolet’s first mid-size car, production of the venerable Malibu sedan surpassed the 10-million mark at the end of August.

GM’s most popular nameplate celebrated the achievement for the global sedan in the North America, China and Korea markets, which collectively account for more than 90 percent of the model’s sales. The Malibu is sold in more than 25 markets around the world.

“The Malibu joins an exclusive club that have achieved this extraordinary milestone,” said Alan Batey, president, global Chevrolet. “Some people are buying their very first Malibu today and others may have driven a Malibu from a different generation as their first car. It is a car that has resonated with customers for more than half a century.”

Chevrolet’s interaction with customers has changed a lot since the model was introduced in 1964. Back then, an owner’s manual and a personal relationship with the dealer defined conventional customer service. By the 1990s, a toll-free line to call centres provided answers to many customer questions.

Today, owners can communicate with Chevy any time of day or night through in-vehicle technologies such as OnStar and social media, where teams of specialists complement the ownership experience with support and information.

“The immediacy of socially driven technologies is fundamentally changing ownership experiences and what owners expect from the manufacturer,” said Batey. “It’s a whole new world of customer interaction.”

The Malibu’s 10-millionth milestone comes as the all-new 2016 version enters production. The ninth-generation sedan is completely restyled and is the most fuel-efficient, connected and technologically advanced Malibu ever.

© General Motors
The 2016 Malibu is lighter, longer and more fuel efficient

Longer and lighter, the new model offers more interior space. Its wheelbase has been stretched 101 mm (nearly four inches) and, unlike many of its long-term buyers who have owned several successive models, it has lost rather than gained weight. It’s now 136 kg (nearly 300 pounds) lighter than the outgoing version.

It also offers improved fuel efficiency with an all-new, available hybrid powertrain that uses technology from the Chevrolet Volt. The standard 1.5-litre turbo powertrain should also offer a frugal appetite for fuel on the highway. It also features a fuel-saving stop/start technology that enhances efficiency in stop-and-go driving, something to be appreciated in your daily commute or if you’re a retiree trying to stretch your fixed income as much as possible.

Malibu through the years

NewspressUSA
1964 Malibu Convertible

Named after the California city famous for its beaches and born with the last of the Boomers, the 1964 Chevrolet Malibu was the top-line model of an all-new vehicle line touted as a premium choice for families that needed space and efficiency for long commutes.

Chevrolet called the Malibu an “intermediate” car – positioned between the full-size series and the compact Chevy II, It represented the birth of the mainstream mid-size segment, which has grown to be the highest-volume segment in the industry. Customers snapped up more than 370,000 in the first year from a lineup that also included the entry-level 300 and Chevelle models, and a range of body styles that included coupes, sedans, wagons and convertibles. The lineup also included the Malibu SS muscle car.

NewspressUSA
1978 Malibu. Five years later it was gone as RWD model

Sales of Chevy’s upstart intermediate range topped 503,000 by 1969 – with the popular Malibu two-door sport coupe accounting for 300,000 of them.

It then rolled through the 1970s as one of the best-selling cars of the decade. It was retired in 1983, after its fourth generation, then returned in 1997 as a modern, front-drive sedan. In the nearly 20 years since, it has evolved and offers the latest in efficiency-enhancing technologies, safety features and, more recently, the connectivity features that have become increasingly important to customers.

The 2016 Malibu is built at the GM Fairfax Assembly facility, in Kansas City, Kan.