Australians are known for our laid back demeanour and appetite for adventure. With a country as vast and varied – from spectacular desert settings to sub-tropical rainforests, there is plenty to see and do in just a day.
However, according to a recent Roy Morgan survey, most of us don’t even have a day to spend enjoying the great outdoors and undertake a good old-fashioned Aussie road trip anymore.
With job commitments increasing and children immersed in laptops and tablets, it is becoming rarer to see a family pack the car and head out for a day of adventure.
Based on the results of close to 17,000 respondents, just 36.9 per cent of Australians aged 14+ had taken a day trip by car in the year to June 2014. This was down from 41.1 per cent in June 2010.
The thought of a computer operating your car while you sit back sounds like something you would read about in a science fiction novel. However, driverless cars are already being experimented with in Japan and could very well replace human drivers within the next decade or two. The notion of driverless cars sounds appealing; a computer, after all, is not prone to human negligence or making potentially fatal errors in judgment, such as getting behind the wheel intoxicated or texting while on the road.
For a number of months, the Australian car market has been struggling under the weight of poor consumer confidence. However, a recent announcement from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) suggests the market is beginning to move in the right direction.
Road users in regional and rural NSW understand the frustrations and inadequacies of country roads.