Most people do not think twice about getting in the car and driving to their destination. Driving has become so integral to modern life that you may not even consider all the minor aggravations that using a car can bring to get from here to there, let alone the major risks of driving a multi-ton vehicle at breakneck speed.
However, really allowing individual drivers to control their own car is inefficient and not really safe. Instead, we should leverage technology to make driving better in nearly every way — and already, tech companies and automakers are teaming up to make that occur. If you are not sure whether to embrace driverless cars and related advanced robotic technologies, read on to see what these tools can do to improve transportation in the coming years.
Lower Cost
Contrary to popular belief, automatic cars can’t be privately owned. It might be hard to imagine a world where you haven’t got your own car, but the truth is that autonomy opens up a world of opportunities for shared fleets of vehicles, such as ridesharing or carsharing – and believe it or not, this is a good thing for your wallet.
The average car spends 95 percent of its life parked. Unfortunately, during that time, you pay a heavy price for insurance, registration, maintenance, fuel, and other ongoing costs to make sure your vehicle runs when you need it. Plus, you are also paying the exorbitant purchase price of the car, your repercussions expenses for life vehicles will go upwards of tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands for luxury cars.
By participating in a driverless shared car program, you eliminate approximately all of those expenses, paying a basic monthly fee instead. In fact, more and more fleets are popping up thanks to technological improvements from companies like Zurich Connected Car, competition will push the price of driverless transport even lower. That means you and millions of other vehicle owners have more money on hand, which is never a bad thing.
Less Traffic
Average American commuter spending 97 hours per year stuck in traffic, whose lifetime amounted to more than five months wasted. Traffic congestion is essentially the result of inefficient driving, with some drivers moving too fast, some drivers moving too slowly, some drivers stumbling and a few drivers crashing. This is an error that stems directly from human behavior — and it does not occur when the robot is controlling the wheel.
First, driverless cars are programmed to be safer (more on that later), so all of them drive at speed limits, change lanes slowly and punctiliously, and usually perform maneuvers that should not disrupt traffic. However, perhaps more importantly, as highways are stuffed with driverless vehicles, it is likely that cars will start talking to one another, taking efficiency to yet one more level. While there will still be lots of vehicles on the road, you may never get stuck in traffic while the robot is driving.
Less Damage, Injury and Death
Worldwide, an estimated 3,287 people die in traffic crashes every day — and an extra 20 to 50 million people are injured, many with harsh disabilities. While it’s inconvenient to view vehicles as weapons or dangerous tools on par with weapons, cars are literally responsible for many things. more death and destruction compared to firearms. That’s not to say that gun control is not a positive move; instead, it should draw your attention to the fallacy of believing that motorcars are safe.
Like traffic, crashes and crashes are primarily the result of human error: drunk driving, tailgating, speeding, not checking the rearview mirror, not using a seat belt and other risky behaviors. Indeed, you may not even break the law or drive irresponsibly and still end up in an accident. More and more crashes, studies show, are the result of the easy indisputable fact that, as humans, we are prone to crashes. When distracted driving not breaking the law, can have equally troubling consequences. The robot car is programmed to avoid this driving behavior and travel from Point A to Point B as safely as possible. Although detractors like to bring up ethical dilemmas about driverless cars (listen trolley problem?) the reality is that deploying autonomous vehicles ASAP will save millions of lives over the next few years.
It’s natural to be concerned about any new technology, particularly one that promises to significantly change the world. However, in terms of robot cars, the nice far outweighs the bad. You must patiently await the day when driverless vehicles outnumber human drivers – which may be in the next decade.