Car in 2050

Cars of the future will run on electricity or environmentally-friendly fuels, have fingerprint identification for security, automatic breath sensors to prevent drunk driving and use satellite and map discs for navigation.

But will cars in 2050 be able to fly, park themselves, be immune to breakdown or drive under water? Not likely, says the Royal Automobile Club’s somewhat whimsical recent report titled “Motoring towards 2050”.

This is the vision of the way ahead for motoring according to over 500 drivers surveyed by the RAC for their recent report. The survey shows that the majority of drivers thought that cars would be more technologically advanced and run on environmentally friendly fuels but retain their individuality and look much the same as today’s vehicles.

The sci-fi style fantasy of the future was firmly discarded with only five per cent of drivers thinking that cars will be beamed from place to place in 50 years time. Only three per cent, obviously fans of the film “The Matrix”, thought that motorists might have a chip containing the Rules of the Road embedded in their brains.

Almost half of those interviewed thought “crash-proof” cars were a probable feature of the future as well as electronically-controlled cars travelling on motorways.

Fifty-eight per cent of those surveyed reckon that those caught speeding in the future will be penalised with automatic deductions made from their credit cards.

The report suggests that despite improvements to public transport, cars will remain the predominant mode of transport for the next fifty years, although the way in which we use them might be radically different.