Opinion from Peter Saxon

For almost 100 years, radio has had a virtual monopoly on in-car media – shared only with recorded music and the billboards outside.

Even streamed music has had little impact on radio. While, no doubt, its penetration will grow, for the most part audio streaming, without local culture and personalities, has merely replaced people’s own music on iPods and CDs.

But what looks to become the biggest change in the way we use motor cars since the invention of the internal combustion engine, could also see the end of radio’s dominance on the dashboard  – if there is even going to be a dashboard going forward.

As improbable as it may seem, self-driving cars are already a reality that could be on sale to the public and on our roads in as little five years. Backed by Google, Uber and a slew of major car-makers, the self-driving car will use sat-nav to set the route to a chosen destination and a combination of cameras and sensors to keep it from coming into contact with objects along the way.

Nothing is infallible but, properly set up, computers are more reliable than humans. They don’t fall asleep at the wheel or get drunk. They won’t speed or run a red light – nor are they given to road rage.

For those who spend an hour or more on a daily commute in city traffic, the case for self-driving cars is compelling.

Once computers take over the driving, everyone in the car becomes a passenger. That means that even a sole passenger, who would otherwise be the driver, would be free to do any number of things that are, at present, illegal. For example they could read a newspaper, watch television, check their emails and facebook page or participate in a conference call via Skype.

Of course, they can still listen to radio, if they wish. But the competition for their eyes and ears is going to get awfully fierce in the not too distant future.

Peter Saxon