Phuong Hoang
Mr. Hui
ESL 184
08 November 2017
Autonomous Cars: Continue to invest or Stop? Has anyone ever heard about self-driving cars or autonomous cars? According to wikipedia.org, “an autonomous car is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input.” Nowadays many car manufacturers such as Google, Tesla, Toyota, or Audi are investing in autonomous cars to help people’s lives as more comfortable. They expect the first fully autonomous car will arrive by 2025-2030, but they still have much more things to do now. To qualify if it’s a fully autonomous car, the data must be able to sense its full environment and navigation without human interference to drive safely to its destination. As you read news about an old man, named Joshua Brown who died behind the wheel of a Tesla’s autonomous car in Autopilot mode on the highway in Florida. He watched Harry Potter video while he was using autopilot mode; suddenly, a truck was coming nearby, but the autonomous braking system didn’t apply simultaneously because the data recognized it was a sky. This accident influenced a lot to the world about autonomous cars and also gave the idea that these were not ready to use. Based on this crash, a lot of people want them to stop investing in autonomous cars because it’s dangerous to use. Car manufacturers should continue to invest in autonomous cars because it’s decreasing the rate of accidents, helping disabled people, and saving driver time.
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Driverless cars are the technology of the future. There is no longer a need to drive using your hands, just type in your destination in the GPS, and the car gets you there. These cars are still being tested, but they are expected to get on the roads soon. There are some drawbacks that have held up the process to let these cars on the roads, but the companies will fix these problems. Driverless cars have a lower crash rate than humans, they are safe, and don’t make mistakes like people do on the road.
Imagine a future with zero car accidents and taking a nap while going down the road. Imagine a future where there are no drivers, only passengers. And not just that, but imagine not worrying about having accidents or high insurance payments. With driverless vehicles, car accidents will drastically diminish and insurance rates will decrease, meaning they could have a better impact on the economy. Driverless vehicles will benefit society given that they will reduce accidents, can improve traffic flow by enhancing its efficiency, and protect the environment from harmful fuel emissions.
Cars are now becoming much more aware and these cars are available to the general public. In 2005 there was a course for autonomous vehicles and no car completed a tenth of the course(Guerra). These cars can now park themselves, raise their wheels to avoid potholes, check if you are drifting out of your lane, check out your blind spots, they know if any object is behind you when you are backing up and most important Tesla released a car that could drive itself on highways. Eleven years ago cars like this were science fiction and in 20 years they might become commercially available (Guerra). This is the start of self-driving cars being in the hands of ordinary people and not a test group. Some people my opt out of owning a self-driving car, however they will still need to
Are Americans ready for cars that can drive themselves?, will it be safe for “ai’s” on the road instead of normal human drivers?, and how will this be beneficial to traffic, crashes, and time? In the Newsela article, “pro/con: self-driving cars are just around the corner. Is it a good thing?”, By Tribune News Service, Self-driving cars remove many of the human mistakes that cause injuries and deaths. Self-driving cars can also help disabled and elderly people get from place to place on their own. The self-driving cars that are now being developed use many forms of technology to drive themselves. Radar, cameras and other devices are used to "see" the world around the car. Advanced computer systems drive the car from one destination to another without any help from humans. Self-driving cars offer such a wealth of advantages that it makes little difference whether Americans are ready. Americans need to get ready. Self-driving cars will soon be in their rearview mirrors.
Most people believe that these self-driving cars are going to make our roads much safer than they are with human drivers. According to an article titled “Road Crash Statistics” by the Association for Safe International Road Travel, “nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,287 a day.” They also claim that road crashes is the ninth leading cause of death. Obviously automobiles are dangerous, but they are also very effective for transportation. According to Statista there were over 7 million cars sold to U.S. customers in 2014. Even though automobiles have caused so many deaths, most people really need them.
The article, “The Promise of a Post-Driver Life” states, car accidents occur every day, leaving someone seriously injured about every seven-seconds and one dead about every fourteen minutes (Humas). Surprisingly, driverless vehicles are on the rise and people do not know how to react or what to think about them. While the number of accidents on the road has increased over the years. Driverless cars could be a solution to help to mend the problem and help eliminate driver errors. Some people believe we should have driverless vehicles while others say they would be too dangerous. Many people in the United States feel driverless cars can create a decrease in the number of accidents, create a better traffic flow, and create greater mobility for those who cannot drive, while others say it would be too hazardous with possible computer malfunctions, cyber attacks, and relying on algorithms to make ethical decisions.
Autonomous cars have been on the minds of scientists for many years. They have tried to figure out methods to use to develop self driving cars. There are good things and bad things about Autonomous cars. I know that self driving cars are a good idea. This is so because they can help change the commute for parents who are going to work, they can help expenses of living be lower by having it easier to travel to bigger cities from suburbs, and self driving cars have are going to have bugs fixed quickly.
Since the beginning of self-driving cars which first began in 1925 with the creation of the Houdina Radio Control; a car operated by two cars, a transmitter, and an antenna, to now - the futuristic dream of these autonomous cars have transformed into the reality of cars we see now. These cars are nothing short of the new technology advances that have occurred over the past decade. However, with these advances many question whether or not these cars are ready to be sold, due to the fatal accident that occurred May 2016 involving the autonomous Tesla and a white truck. Due to the Tesla not being able to detect the white tractor because of technological issues, the tesla failed to stop, and since the driver was not prepared to steer, it lead to the fatal collision eventually leading to the death of the tesla owner. With the increase of these cars on the road, from companies like BMW, Daimler, Ford, Apple, Uber, and Google, this poses a serious threat to not only the people operating this autonomous vehicle but also to the surrounding drivers. I believe that autonomous cars should not be put on the road, and that these cars are not beneficial to the population.
The human race advances every day with new technologies and scientific advances. As of late, the hot topic in technological advances are driverless cars.The building and testing of cars that require no driver began about ten years ago and has been adopted by many companies along the way. Due to these cars not using a human driver, they must use a combination of sensors, GPS, and video cameras to make sure it is as safe as possible. However, there are still dangers as a machine cannot react quite like humans can and cannot predict what a human will do when driving. The technology has been put in our society via human test subjects riding with the car.
Self-driving cars currently have blood on their hands. A Newsela article “Caution light is still on for Tesla's Autopilot technology” by Eric Peter, and another article “PRO/CON: Is it time to hop in self-driving cars?” by Robert W. Peterson; the owners of self-driving car are warned the self-driving cars are still new technology, under contemporary circumstances, people in those cars need to be vigilant with how they use their cars safely. Self-driving cars should not be legalized in the U.S..
Autonomous cars have been debated at the state level for years, always being voted against, however the federal government has finally decided to speak up and provide guidelines for these self-driving cars. These new guidelines are designed to govern everything there is about self-driving cars from cars without steering wheels to Tesla’s new car that is only autonomous on the highway.
Self driving cars have the potential to completely revolutionize the way public transportation continues in our society; many are for it and even more are against it. It is fair to say that this is a great invention and that in some cases it can serve as a safer way of transportation (only in certain situations) as well as make for a more dangerous one. Tesla is a worldwide known company and although the company did not invent driverless cars, they did most definitely perfect it. Having the most technologically advanced vehicle in the world that can predict accidents before they even happen, it is a safe bet to trust the Tesla autopilot feature. The majority of the population believe that it will be nothing but beneficial to our society and provide us with safer streets and highways. But there is much more than meets the eye when it comes to this new technology.
Imagine if you could ride safely regardless of your driving skill, and having the peace of mind that your loved ones are as safe as they could possibly be wherever their destination may take them. This is the purpose that Google and many other car manufacturers, like Toyota for instance; pursue. Despite this ambition, the concept carries a shallow history and as such, the technology behind it is in its infancy. As a result, public opinion is strongly hesitant in regards to allowing these vehicles to share our roads. With our movement, we hope that we can persuade legislation , we could see a reduction in the number of traffic accidents, traffic flow will be far easier to manage, and the money we could be potentially saving
Self-driving cars sounds kind of Buck Rogers, Doesn’t it? But it may be closer than you think. Apple received a permit to test a self-driving car in California this year. If you are floored by this statement you are not alone but the idea of a driverless vehicle has been around since the 1920s back when everyone was looking for the next grandiose thing in all honesty aren’t we still looking for the next grandiose thing? Even our own public bus will get a facelift. With the obvious upgrades like comfortable seating and design but also facial recognition technology which will aid in recovering lost children and the apprehending of criminals and wanted people. Lastly two words robot taxi sounds amazing right and it’s not that far off from happening
Did you know, that sixty-six thousand people are using cell phones a day while they are driving (“Distracted…”)? Driving safely is important because, parents, guardians, friends and other family members, dread the call from someone saying that their kid. Safe driving save people's lives. If there is a person who does not follow the rules of the road while driving, maybe someone should tell them to do all of their distractions before starting the car or just wait till you arrive at the destination you are going. The rules of the road need to be enforced, especially when it comes to seat belts, drinking and driving, cell phones, and other various distracting aspects.