Driverless Cars Pros And Cons
Many people consider today that the self-driving vehicles could be the answer to reduce the number of road accidents and eliminate traffic jams especially in the major cities of the planet.
A decade ago, the cars that can drive themselves were only a dream or maybe a subject of a sci-fi movie, but today, due to companies like Google, Tesla, Ford and many others, the driverless vehicles are quickly becoming a reality.
I know that a fully autonomous car can be exciting, but also scary for some people, because some of them will never entrust their life into the hands of AI (artificial intelligence).
Tesla has already introduced on the market electric vehicles that can drive themselves, but these vehicles are not fully autonomous because the Tesla autopilot is more like an advanced cruise control that can keep the car in the lane and can detect obstacles around the vehicle.
The Tesla Model S driver that used the autopilot feature and was killed due to the collision with the side of a truck in May 2016 (Tesla’s sensors were not able to distinguish between the body of the truck and the sky behind it), shows that Tesla’s autopilot feature is not yet a fully functional self-driving software.
The 5 Levels of Autonomous Vehicles
The self-driving technology has been already categorized by the U.S. government by defining five levels of automation.
Level zero
is a car that has no self-driving capability whatsoever, so its fully human-controlled (this level is not for autonomous vehicles).
Level one
is a human-driven car, but has certain features that the car can take over (Traffic Aware Cruise Control, Collision Avoidance Systems).
Level two
is a vehicle that has two or more automated controls working together such as cruise control and lane keeping features, speed control using the environment and hands-off navigation.
The driver must still take control when needed.
Level three
is a car that has self-driving feature available, and the driver can let the car drive itself only in certain conditions.
This car can read lights and signs, can change lanes, but again, the driver needs to take the control of the vehicle when needed.
Level four
is a vehicle that can provide full navigation with no human intervention (driver is not needed), but this vehicle is restricted to well-mapped areas, and to work properly requires ideal road conditions.
Level five
is a vehicle that is fully autonomous providing human-level driving on unmapped roads and any weather condition.
No driver and no steering wheel are required.
The promoters of the self-driving technology say that the driverless vehicles can bring many benefits to the society by reducing the likelihood of car accidents caused by human error, which count for about 95% of the car crashes that are taking place today.
The technology can also reduce fuel consumption and save lives, because about 30,000 people are dying every year on the U.S. roads due to human error, which can be eliminated by using the self-driving feature.
People against the driverless vehicles say that the technology is unproven and could create complicated new questions about liability, car insurance, about liberties on the American open road, etc.
Others say that the self-driving technology could take jobs away from people like truck drivers and from others working in the transportation sector.
Let’s see in detail some of the pros and cons involving the driverless car technology.
Pros of Driverless Cars
The self-driving technology is tempting, but also scary for many people today, and like in the case of any other new technology available for us, we first said no (due to the lack of knowledge) and only after a while, we realized that the technology was actually good and useful.
1. Can Reduce the Number of Car Crashes in the U.S.
It is already known that more than 80% of the car crashes that take place in the U.S. every year are produced by human error (drunk drivers, drugged drivers, very tired drivers, people without a driving license, drivers that forget about traffic rules, etc.), and by replacing the human driver with the self-driving technology, we can reduce this number to a very small value.
2. Self-driving Vehicles Can Become Resting and Sleeping Places for People
Especially during the long rides, a driverless vehicle can become the perfect place for resting and sleeping during the ride instead of being a vehicle where the driver gets tired due to the fact that it is bound to drive the vehicle for a long period of time.
3. Can Become Leisure Rooms
Even if the ride is short, inside a driverless car we can relax by watching the TV for news, music, a movie, etc.
This way, the self-driving vehicles could become mini rooms where people can spend a good time doing what they like the most.
4. Can Reduce Traffic Jams and Shorten Travel Times
If all the vehicles on the road would be driverless, the AI inside each vehicle will communicate in a network with all the other vehicles to avoid creating traffic jams, and this way the travel times would be reduced.
5. Can Perceive the Environment Much Better Than Humans Do
While driving the vehicle for long distances or even in the town we encounter all kinds of weather conditions, from sunny to rainy, a snowy day or a foggy area, which will always affect the visibility conditions on the road.
The AI inside the self-driving vehicle will perceive the environment much better than the human eye.
A driverless car uses even today (when the self-driving technology is in its infancy), several advanced sensors and systems such as lidar, GPS, radar and 360-degree sensors to map the surroundings, which means that the self-driving vehicle can perceive the road and the environment around the car much better than a driver can do even in bad weather conditions.
6. Using Self-driving Vehicles Can Increase Speed Limits
When all the vehicles on the road will be driverless cars, we can increase the speed limits on the road without decreasing the safety conditions because the AI that controls the vehicles can communicate with all the other vehicles and react much faster that a human can do.
7. Parking Even in Tight Spaces Will Be a Simple Task for the Driverless Vehicle
We know that today, even if we go shopping and we let the car in the parking lot near the store, when we return back to the vehicle with the groceries bought, we can find our car damaged by another driver.
By using driverless vehicles, the AI of each vehicle will control the car much better than humans do, will park the vehicle with ease even in tight spaces, and will avoid touching people, animals, and other vehicles or obstacles, which will reduce the number of small car crashes to zero.
8. Can Lower the Price of Car Insurance
By having only driverless cars on the road, the number of small or fatal car accidents will be reduced almost to zero, which will lower the price of auto insurance.
9. A Driverless Car Is More Efficient
A self-driving vehicle will travel through a network of self-driving cars and by communicating with the AI controlling the other vehicles, will be able to adjust the speed according to the traffic and will travel in a more efficient way to its destination, which means less fuel consumption and reduced costs.
10. They Can Reduce Car Theft
Today’s vehicles might be easy to steal, but a self-aware vehicle will be almost impossible to steal because if the AI will be well-protected from the thieves, the car will not go anywhere, and maybe it will even keep the thief trapped inside the vehicle until the arrival of the police.
Let’s say that the thief is so smart that it can get control over the AI inside the self-driving vehicle, but another hidden security system installed inside the vehicle could communicate with the police the location of the stolen vehicle to make it easier to track and capture the thief.
11. The Number of People that Are Able To Use Vehicles Will Increase
Having only driverless vehicles on the road, the need for a car license will disappear, and almost everyone will be able to use such a vehicle.
This way, many very young or old people, and also people with disabilities that today cannot use a vehicle will be capable to use driverless cars to travel from one place to another.
Cons of Driverless Cars
Like any other new technology on the market, the self-driving capability has its own disadvantages mostly created by its high price and the fact that many people will never trust the AI.
1. The First Driverless Cars On the Market Will Be Very Expensive
Being a new technology that will revolutionize the transportation sector, the self-driving capability, will bring the price of the first autonomous vehicles on the market over the level of $100,000, which will show that the first driverless vehicles are only a commodity for the rich.
Ordinary people will need to wait a few years or even a decade until the self-driving technology will become available (in terms of price) for them.
2. Driverless Cars Could Be Polluting Vehicles
Today only Tesla seems to be seriously interested to introduce the self-driving technology on electric cars, while other companies are trying to use the technology on regular vehicles with combustion engines.
The future needs to be green if we want to live a healthy life here on the planet, and the self-driving technology being a part of the future needs to also be green otherwise we will have autonomous vehicles that will pollute the air and will destroy the environment.
3. An AI malfunction Could Trigger A Very Destructive Car Crash
We know that any software could have a glitch from time to time, and in the case of the self-driving technology such a glitch could be extremely destructive for the car, and the people inside it, and also for the people, the animals and the cars outside the vehicle.
4. If A Driverless Car Travels Alone And Produces A Car Crash Who Will Be Responsible?
Let’s say that a driverless car travels alone from one place to another, and during the ride produces a car crash, who will take the fault? the engineer that designed the software for the self-driving technology or the owner of the vehicle?
If the driverless car travels with people inside and produces a car crash, maybe fatal, who will take the blame? the creator of the software of the people inside?
Let’s suppose that the vehicle will be 100% autonomous, and the people inside the vehicle will have no access to the car’s controls, then who will be responsible for the car if the vehicle produces an accident?
5. Self-driving Cars Could Be the Perfect Tools for Terrorists
Such a vehicle could be loaded with explosives and sent to an address to destroy that place and the people inside.
Such technology needs to be very well protected from criminal hands because it can be used to destroy properties and human lives.
6. Reading Road Signs and Making a Difference Between a Vehicle and the Background Seems To Be Challenging for the AI
The recent car crash (May 2016), in which a Tesla Model S using the Tesla autopilot was destroyed and the driver killed on the highway in Florida after the collision with a truck, shows that the software used to make the car autonomous was not able to make a difference between the white side of the truck and the background.
7. Drivers Could Lose their Ability To Drive Vehicles WIthout Being Assisted By AI
We know that many people are born to be drivers or pilots, and these people will be always against the driverless cars because they simply love driving.
More than that, if a driver starts using a driverless vehicle for a long period of time, it might be not capable to drive the car again, even if needed because after such a long period of time it may lose its ability to drive any vehicle.
8. A Major Investment in Infrastructure Will Be Required To Introduce the Driverless Cars
The actual road system will definitely require major updates to introduce the self-driving vehicles because the AI inside these vehicles will use instead of road signs, the network of connected AIs to communicate with each other and establish the best route to follow.
9. Autonomous Vehicles Could Be the End For Some Traditional Jobs
Truck drivers and also taxi drivers may lose their job if the driverless cars will begin to be widely used.
The evolution of technology always meant the end of something traditional (original).
10. Hackers Could Attack the AI used by the Driverless Vehicles
We know that professional hackers can take over the control of a software if they want, and this way they can attack the AI used by a driverless vehicle to control the car.
This way the people inside the vehicle could be trapped inside the car and travel (without their will) to an unknown destination ordered by the hacker.
Conclusion
Driverless cars could represent the future in terms of transportation, and even if we want it or not, the trend is towards automation and environmental protection, which means that the autonomous vehicles will eliminate the bad drivers, will put an end to the traffic jams, and will stop polluting the environment by using electric motors instead of combustion engines.
The future is autonomous and green, which means that all of us will have a better life in the clean future that will follow.
