Last updated on March 29th, 2022 at 10:15 pm
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Like cruise control on steroids, self-driving cars could revolutionize the way we experience road trips or even a drive around town. In theory, being able to kick back and relax while your vehicle does all the work seems like a dream come true. A godsend for weary commuters and those who think driving is just too much work. We are living in an era of everything being instant, at your fingertips, or even being completely automated. Why would driving be any different? Let’s hit the brakes, before you get your hopes up.
It seems every day another robot or AI is being produced to make our lives easier, but what if self-driving vehicles end up making things more complicated? There is much debate on the topic of culpability in the event of a traffic accident involving self-driving or driverless cars. Already there have been multiple highly publicized incidents stemming from test runs from some of the world’s biggest transit companies. Who will be held responsible if things go awry? We’ve already seen one fatality in these test runs during 2016. It is be argued that there is an inherent risk when anyone gets behind the wheel, be it humans or 1s and 0s. While human error is at times greater than that of the complex technology in these autonomous vehicles, no technology is flawless. We’ve all become frustrated when our smartphones and computers malfunction, but the fallout of a glitch in the emerging technology could prove catastrophic.
Driverless cars might seem novel and will likely bring down the cost of cab fares, but what about the cost to our economy in the long run? Taxi drivers account for a sizeable portion of our workforce here in the US; 233,000 to be exact. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this field was expected to grow by 13% by 2024. You can anticipate seeing many of these workers laid off once the self-driving car is made widely available. Worse yet, robots may soon replace truck drivers. One of the most common middle-class jobs that do not require a degree may soon cease to exist.
Many car makers recently began to roll out their plans for the coming year and are flaunting their new driverless fleets. While there are apparent benefits to fully autonomous vehicles, it still looks like the risk far outweighs the rewards. While many recent models include features like parking assist and lane departure warning, the idea of a driverless car is still extreme. A fully-automated driving experience is still years away from being perfected. For now, we’ll have to keep our eyes on the road.
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