What do you think about the concept of driverless cars? Research is heading that way; Google has a self-driving car that has already gone about 2 million miles on the streets of Mountain View, California. And major companies are spending billions of dollars to make driverless cars a reality…and the new norm.
Just like with any new technology, it’s not perfect. Driverless cars have gotten into accidents with cars being driven by humans. And guess whose fault these accidents were? Not the driverless cars’ fault. Nope. The human driver was to blame in more than a dozen accidents involving a Google driverless car.
Do we really want cameras and computers controlling our cars to the point where we let machines take over our lives? Furthermore, driverless cars bring up a whole host of questions regarding privacy as well as what’s legal, safety regulations, and who is to blame for accidents.
Perfect software doesn’t exist, which means driverless cars aren’t perfect. They may not be able to account for threats like children running out into the street unexpectedly, at a moment’s notice. Software isn’t to the point where it can make life-or-death decisions.
That said, self-driving vehicles could eliminate 90 percent of auto accidents in the U.S., preventing as much as $190 billion in damages and health costs annually, according to a study by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. After all, humans drink, do drugs, text while driving, race each other, get road rage, and fall asleep at the wheel– driverless, “autonomous” cars don’t have those challenges.
Of course, what about hackers who could seize control of autonomous vehicles? And what about convincing fearful people who just do not want anything to do with driverless cars? It will be quite interesting to see what developments take place in the coming years regarding driverless, autonomous cars.