Are Self-Driving Cars Safe? (Pros And Cons)

Technology is moving incredibily fast and the era we're living in has now reached to see the future which is already predicted. Autonomous driving technology is under testing now and at some extent, it is seemingly going successful.

Are Self-Driving Cars Safe? (Pros and Cons)

Speaking up about the next generation of transportations means to think about “Flying Vehicles” which are already predicted in several Science Fiction movies.

But we are nowhere at the back as even we never thought about the generation of Self-Driving cars to be our present.

Technology is moving incredibly fast and the era we’re living in has now reached to see the future which is already predicted. Autonomous driving technology is under testing now and at some extent, it is seemingly going successful.

Companies like Google, Delphi, Bosche, Tesla, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Uber and Audi have already begun to test driverless cars. According to the report, Google managed to bring out 25 of its prototype cars on the streets for testing in 2014.

What are they using in Autonomous Vehicles?

This is the question that surely will cross your mind again and again when it comes to think about this innovative technology to be our future. Autonomous cars will be using Google GPS to keep track of the location, equipped with high-end sensors, Laser Illuminating Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), powerful algorithms to make a car learn about the distance from another vehicle, detecting the surrounding environment to identify sign boards, pedestrians and even the cyclists. Pretty Human, huh? Of course, even the high-end software and algorithms are used to make it capable of choosing the safe speed, acceleration, braking and turning, and in fact it’ll be made capable of sensing the actions of other vehicles to decide its own moves accordingly and safely.

Everything, even more than the driver’s capabilities are equipped inside this autonomous cars, allowing the commuters to sit back, relax, eat, play a game on their mobile phone or whatsoever. This car is going to do everything for them by itself.

What else we need?

Now it might seem easier to say that this is it. But still as we know that this technology is new and being tested, isn’t it quite sooner to bring the autonomous cars on the road shared by human drivers? Should we be putting ourselves in the hands of technology? Are these autonomous vehicles safe? Shall we trust on a robotic cars and a computer with our life? These questions arise in our minds as well.

Let’s discuss about the pros and cons of this autonomous driving technology:

Pros of Autonomous Vehicles

Well, there is a huge debate going on about when this technology will be landed on the roads finally. Some say it will happen in the end of 2016, some say it is not going to happen at all in their entire lives and some are hopeful but say that the technology will take some more years to enter the environment. It’s quite unsure!

The biggest question is to deal with this driverless technology on the roads in presence of vehicles which are fully operated by the humans. Is it going to work out properly and keep the momentum under control? The question!

Following are the known pros of this innovative technology

* Life-Saving Technology

* Reduce Chances Of Traffic Jams

Life Saving Technology

This technology will surely bring a huge difference on the roads as the accidents on the roads which are mostly caused by human errors, will be reduced. According to the U.S National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there have been more than 32,000 casualties in the road accidents in 2014.

Unable to maintain the vehicle in one lane, drunk drivers, falling to yield in right of way are the main causes of 90% accidents on the roads. These are the human errors which will surely be handled by self-driving cars and will save around $400 Million for U.S in total costs on accidents. This technology will surely be reducing the causes of accidents on the road.

Just in case of accidents in rare situations of autonomous vehicles on the road, there will be 95% reduced number of injuries and fatalities on the road. For that, almost all the vehicles on the road will have to be autonomous and that surely will decrease the number of accidents.

Reduce Chances Of Traffic Jams

While these autonomous vehicles will surely decrease the chances of road accidents caused by human errors, it will also reduce the chances of traffic jams. That’s because the vehicles will be able to travel on higher speed and close to other vehicles without even hitting them on the road. This will be the main benefit for Americans as it will be saving their travelling time.

These cars are equipped with cruise control, the technology to allow the cars to be in their lanes, autonomous brakes and self-parking sensors. This whole bunch makes it much more perfect.

Cons Of Autonomous Vehicles

It is understood that this technology is not flawless. Some believe that there must be a driver inside to control the vehicle at the time of emergency. These vehicles can’t drive in heavy rain or heavy snow, they can’t read the hand signals and there could be a hard time for these vehicles to take a left-turn while the on-coming traffic is coming etc.

There are many such issues and they shall be tackled immediately before landing this new technology on the roads. Following are the cons of Autonomous Vehicles:

* Ethical Problems

* Hacking Threats

Ethical Problems

The main thing that should be noticed at first is how this technology is going to respond in emergency situations. Could this autonomous vehicle be able to stop immediately if someone suddenly comes in middle of the road and in front of it? Would it be able to save a life without even harming the passengers?

How would robots respond to this? They’re all programmed and they should be able to tackle these ethical problems on regular basis. Isn’t it?

In such types of situations, the decision taken by a robotic car or a human driver inside, it won’t be perfect. The vehicle could also swerve on another vehicle or just brake on time, depends on the situation. But it’s not going to be tackled easily.

Hacking Threats

As these autonomous vehicles will all be computerized, there are endless chances of them to be hacked for sure. Won’t it be a major issue as one day these autonomous cars will be entering our lives and will solely rely on the computers?

Well, yes this is a major issue. There are thousands or millions of hacking cases being reported on regular basis. Speaking of these autonomous vehicles; they’ll be able to be hacked even through the Wi-Fi signals. These hacking threats could lead to even major disasters on the roads and before landing this technology, there must be a high-focus on these issues before it leads to something unbearably terrible.

Conclusion

In the light of above pros and cons, this technology still seems suitable, usable and quite a major change in the environment. But maybe this technology will bring out the vehicles in too hot prices for consumers to buy. Would they be able to afford these vehicles?

According to the reports, Google’s autonomous technology will be adding up to $30,000 to the cost of the vehicles. Some of them believe that the cost will add up around $7,000 by 2025 and will reduce the costs to $5,000 by 2030.

It is anticipated that when these cars will become usual and common in consumer’s daily lives, the costs won’t matter anymore for them for the sake of benefits they’ll be getting of this technology.

Let’s see what this autonomous technology brings for us and how safer this would be? In short, what impact will it be putting on our lives. Let’s hope for good!