Self driving cars are definitely on the horizon, but have you ever stopped to think about the implications for independent garages and parts suppliers? Take the humble wiper blade for instance. Google has made a big play on the fact that its self drive cars do not need wiper blades as the human operators don’t need to see out. But as the cars expand their test areas from the idyllic California climate to more extreme conditions it seems this is not really true.

The IT giant has had to develop tiny wipers for the roof-mounted sensors on its prototype self-driving cars. Google says that while its radar systems are not affected by inclement weather, just like the human eye, its sensors have difficulty seeing in the rain. Tiny wipers aid this process while the sensors also use artificial intelligence to see through rain and exhaust gas. The car also detects the severity of the rain and adapts its driving style accordingly. Google says that in extreme conditions the car will also automatically stop.

The technology of self drive cars is clearly moving at pace but it is also creating more questions than answers. For example if fleets of Google cars were coping with the extreme weather in parts of Ireland over recent months, how many would stopped at the side of the road waiting and waiting for conditions to improve. Also has Google missed the point that passengers actually like to look out of the windscreen to see where they are going on a journey, or do they just assume we are all going to be glued to a screen of another kind? Either way, the presumption of the death of the wiper blade may be a bit premature.