The AA is hosting a CarTech Conference in October, to assess Ireland’s preparedness for electric, connected and autonomous cars.
The conference, due to be held in Dublin Castle on October 5th, will also explore the issue of insurance and liability as the world prepares for the emergence of self-driving technology.
Speakers will include international representatives from Jaguar Land Rover, TomTom, Gett New York, and Three Ireland.
"We are living in one of the most exciting times in the history of motoring. It is a technology that hasn't changed fundamentally from the time of Henry Ford to the present day but it is now about to change utterly," Conor Faughnan, AA director of consumer affairs said.
“We simply are not ready. We haven’t done enough preparation or given it enough thought. Very quickly now we will see non-polluting, self-driving cars become the norm.
“While these changes hold great promise for the environment and for safety, they also present a number of logistical and ethical issues which our conference will seek to highlight and address.”
“The most basic of these is how capable our current infrastructure is of supporting the anticipated growth of electric cars but the discussion extends into more abstract areas as well, such as who is at fault if a self-driving car is involved in a crash.
“We need to answer these questions now if Ireland is to avoid falling behind the rest of the world as technology advances.”
