India’s roads are absurd. Let’s just get that out of the way now. Lanes aren’t really a thing, humans cling to trucks going 50 mph, motorcycles are for carrying families of six and roadkill works the other way around.
And now, someone actually has the gall to try and get driverless cars to figure out how to drive in them. Bless their hearts. Maybe the machines will have better luck figuring it out than the humans.
Tata Group, a conglomerate that houses India’s largest automobile manufacturer, is recreating the nightmare that is Indian roadways in a secret testing track outside of Bangalore, according to Bloomberg. A safe version of the track would need to still have a near-death experience a minute to be totally accurate.
India has been understandably slow in the driverless car race as compared to U.S. and Europe; places where driverless cars are still confused by things like cyclists track standing and kangaroos. The shitshow that is an Indian morning commute would probably send Google’s Waymo car into a frenzy.
India is a goldmine for automakers. The country is projected to be the world’s third-largest auto market, and driverless cars could spur $7 trillion worth of spending by 2050.
In the meantime, if there was ever a time to pity a driverless car, it would be now.