Using a smartphone to call over a self-driving c ar and traveling to your destination without getting behind the wheel is no longer a scene from science fiction movies.<br />Park Se-young has more. <br />When this carpooling commuter selects a car from a smartphone app, a self-driving car shortly arrives at the caller's location.<br />Current law requires a backup driver to be present in the vehicle, but he does not control the wheel.<br />SK Telecom and Korea's Transport Ministry have trialed self-driving cars that can answer customers' calls.<br />The cars pick up riders in the order of calls and take them to their destinations.<br />Once that's done, the cars head to their next call or automatically return to a nearby parking lot.<br />System reforms for self-driving cars and car-sharing services are needed before the technology can be commercialized.<br /><br />"A lot of things need to be done before self-driving cars are commercialized. One of them is 5G connectivity. Transportation and communication have to be linked, and insurance and self-driving technologies have to evolve."<br /><br />Because both self-driving cars and car-sharing services are run on communication networks, measures to prevent hacking are also important.<br />Park Se-young, Arirang News. <br />
