Michelin wants to reinvent the wheel for the driverless age

https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/24/16126...erless-age

EXCERPT: They’re completely airless, last virtually forever, and could be the perfect tire for our autonomous future. Michelin, the 128-year-old tire manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand, France, recently unveiled a 3D-printed tire concept that it says could be the ideal ride for self-driving cars. It just needs to figure out how to actually manufacture them first....

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(Sep 25, 2017 10:12 PM)C C Wrote: https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/24/16126...erless-age

EXCERPT: They’re completely airless, last virtually forever, and could be the perfect tire for our autonomous future. Michelin, the 128-year-old tire manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand, France, recently unveiled a 3D-printed tire concept that it says could be the ideal ride for self-driving cars. It just needs to figure out how to actually manufacture them first....

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I'm not going to be one of those old codgers who whines about change. I embrace it. That said, I hope I get the chance to sit in one of these cars with their spongy wheels and go from A to B. It sounds like the driving experience will be much like sitting in an aisle seat of your local 737, don't pay attention to whats going on outside and in the end all you know is that you got there. Now I have read where some car manufacturers , I think Volvo is one, will still have a steering wheel in their autocars. Why I don't know, unless the philosophy of the driverless car operators includes control in case of an emergency. However, like most things made by man, there will be instances of failure and deaths accompanied by lobbyists and lawyers.

Will a driver's licence be required? Can blind, impaired, physically handicapped people drive? Will insurance be required? Highway patrol?