The Pros And Cons Of Driverless Vehicles

As technology in automobiles continues to improve, the debate over driverless cars has become more frequent. A self-driving car is able to move and navigate on its own using sensors and programming technology without human control. Many people believe the development of driverless cars would be beneficial because they could reduce the risk of hitting another car. The sensors and navigation would be able to avoid accidents, while drivers usually get distracted and would be able to use their time leisurely in the car. A self-driving car may allow people to drive when unable to in the past, such as children and disabled persons, and can be more cost-effective due to cheaper insurance. However, self-driving cars could be extremely expensive and can easily malfunction and therefore not always reliable, while also decreasing the safety of pedestrians and children who may attempt to use the car without permission. With new technology and distractions, driver’s minds can easily wander and become preoccupied. Technology can easily malfunction, and something as small as my phone or a light bulb will glitch frequently. I often see cars stranded on the side of the road because the engine went out or broke down; imagine how catastrophic an accident could be if a sensor in the car went out. Driverless cars are not beneficial to society because while there are favorable aspects of a self-driving car, one can malfunction and add new risks to the road, as well as potentially hurting the

In her article “To Hit the Road, Driverless Cars Must Be Safe, Not Perfect,” Nidhi Kalra argues that because humans are untrustworthy when it comes to safe driving, we should adapt to driverless cars. She provides three premises to support her argument. First, she presents the data of deaths and injuries that were caused by human mistakes. Second, she points out that even though driverless cars may never reach perfection, they would never make miscalculations or mistakes that human drivers make all the time, such as drunk driving, drowsy driving, or driving with distraction. Third, she argues that driverless cars offer benefits such as bettering mobility and efficiency, reducing congestion costs and land use. With these primary premises, Kalra persuades that driverless cars should hit the road one day to reduce amounts of accidents that are likely made by human drivers.

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.

Many great technological feats have been accomplished in the past few years, one of the most notable would be the creation of self-driving cars. Along with the topic of what can be done with this technology, there is also the topic of what should be done with the technology from an ethical standpoint. Self-driving cars while not perfected are worth their innumerous benefits, despite the current limitations and drawbacks. Every year there are numerous incidents where the driver is responsible for a crash or even death. A self-driving car could be the very solution necessary to solving the abundance of accidents that occur daily across the nation. There are different levels of automation ranging on the amount of the drivers control of the vehicles. This technology is already being implemented in creative and helpful ways, and has been successfully tested.

A new technology is approaching, and it may change the world forever. Imagine a planet where traffic does not exist and there are no more drunk drivers on the roads putting people’s lives in danger. With the invention of self-driving cars, this dream world can be made into reality. A self-driving car is exactly what it sounds like, a car that operates on its own without a human driver. They have raised many controversies as to whether this invention is good or bad. Many people believe that self-driving cars are a threat to humanity, but it is the complete opposite. Self- Driving Cars will have a positive impact on society for many different reasons.

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.

Autonomous cars were first thought up back in the 1930’s, but were never fully researched. Five years ago, Google announced that it would begin production of these modern marvels and around two years ago, driverless cars began to make their way to the streets for testing. In 2012, that these cars started to pick up speed (pun intended) and became popular. This year marks a grand milestone for the developers of the driverless car as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “is widely expected to announce standards and mandates for car-borne beacons” (Fisher, 2013). Currently, research and testing occurs quite often in the West Coast of the U.S. California and Arizona because of the open roads. So far three states have legalized Google’s driverless cars, but there is no law that requires cars to have drivers in the first place.

In about a decade, self driving cars have transformed from a distant, futuristic dream to a close certainty. As people begin to acclimate to the idea of self-driving cars, developers, such as Google, Tesla, Audi, and Nissan race to create the best, road-ready, consumer-ready vehicles that are able to navigate our streets independently.

Can we make our once mythical dream of having an automated self-driving car on roads come true? In today’s modern day age and generation, the most pivotal notion that binds our society together as a whole, is technology. From having flying automated cameras that can be controlled to take beguiling shots with a touch of a button, to using smartphones for alerting burglar alarms in households, new milestones are constantly being accomplished and achieved at an inconceivable rate. One such present-day technological advance that has been circulating our domains and industry is the exploitation of autonomous vehicles on public streets. While the idea of having a driverless car is captivating and desirable in many forms, it however, also raises many

Computers, cell phones, security cameras, and cars are all amazing features that the worlds equipped with to make human lives much easier. However, the inevitable and unfortunate event of a technology failure can cause havoc on many people, but a car computer crashing can become much worse in fact, deadly. Alicia Prince states in her article “Errors like this cause annoyance on our computers and mobile devices, but could potentially cause car accidents with self-driving cars.” (2016) Human drivers can cause many errors resulting in traffic deaths every year and the self-driving amenities calls for a completely safe and secure way of mobility, although nothing starts out perfect. Autonomous car manufactures must design, create, and explore

Driverless cars should not be permitted on the roads due to the safety hazard of the other people on the roads. Relying on technology to control a car is a huge risk due to malfunctioning or hacking. Many driverless cars have already been in circumstances where “standard vehicles have been hacked, allowing the hackers to slam the brakes on or accelerate the car rapidly” (Haines 1). When these vehicles are hacked, there is no way for the person in the car to stop the computer.

1.2 million people die on the road each year, equivalent to a 737 plane falling out of the sky every hour. In 94% of the cases, the cause is human error. Self-driving cars can completely take away the factor of human error. Driverless cars are a fantastic idea, they can prevent accidents, reduce time of transportation and give people more free time while traveling.

One questionable characteristic of the driverless car is the security that it obtains. The autonomous car is not fully developed in order to keep the passengers inside as safe as possible. The author of the article “Google’s Driverless Cars Run Into Problem: Cars With Drivers” describes an issue of “...hypothetical risks-like hackers- and real world changes, like what happens when an autonomous car breaks down on the highway”(Text 2, Lines 19-20). According to the author, real world problems such as hackers could pose as a serious issue. Hackers are very dangerous and can manipulate where the car goes and what the car does, such as

The invention of self-driving cars has been around since the 1960’s. However, the technology was never at the point to where the idea was feasible. But since the early 2000’s, self driving cars have become more of a reality rather than science fiction. In the past 2 years alone, self driving cars have made numerous strides in overall improvement and safety. Many people are still on the fence as to whether or not self driving cars are truly safer and more efficient on roadways. They fear the idea of not controlling the car and leaving it up the the AI to drive and get them to their destination safely. Thanks to new strides in AI technology, these cars can now detect accidents faster and avoid them, use significantly less fuel per mile, and are becoming cheaper to produce.

Driverless Cars also known as, autonomous vehicles, seem to be the next big thing when it comes to the future advancement of cars. In fact, “Autonomous" automobile test models have been on the road since 2009, so far driving hundreds of thousands of miles without an accident” (McDonald 6). Since driverless cars are seeming to become a real thing in the future to come there’s multiple questions on how people feel about driverless cars. Is it a good thing? A bad thing? How will it affect our society in years to come? Many people will argue that the technology of driverless cars is a bad idea and will affect our society negatively in years to come. I argue that point and believe that companies should introduce the technology of driverless cars because, it will have a positive impact on, not only cars, but society in general in the mere future.