Autonomous Cars: The Next Frontier
The idea of an autonomous car has fascinated the world ever since the invention of the automobile in the late 1800s. Unfortunately, the technology needed for such a car was just not there. Recently, many car companies have released driver-assisting technologies to make the roads safer, such as cruise control, a system that keeps the speed of a car constant, and lane departure warning systems, systems that warn the driver that he or she is drifting out of a lane. In 2010, however, “Google unveiled that it had developed and successfully road-tested the world’s first truly autonomous car” (Garza 2012). This unexpected news made millions of people around the world excited for the future of transportation. With this excitement came a big debate. Who would be responsible for an accident if an autonomous car is involved? What if these computer-controlled cars try to kill their passengers? Although these are legitimate concerns, self-driving cars will benefit society because of their safety and accessibility. …show more content…
Out of those killed, 5,560 were people 65 and older (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], 2012). These statistics are frightening, to say the least. Following in the footsteps of revolutionary vehicle safety devices, such as the seatbelt and the airbag, autonomous vehicles will save thousands of lives every year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a study on driverless cars and concluded that vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology combined could potentially address “up to 80 percent of all unimpaired
The idea of an autonomous car has fascinated the world ever since the invention of the automobile in the late 1800s. Unfortunately, the technology needed for such a car was just not there. Recently, many car companies have released driver-assisting technologies to make the roads safer, such as cruise control, a system that keeps the speed of a car constant, and lane departure warning systems, systems that warn the driver that he or she is drifting out of a lane. In 2010, however, “Google unveiled that it had developed and successfully road-tested the world’s first truly autonomous car” (Garza 2012). This unexpected news made millions of people around the world excited for the future of transportation. With this excitement came a big debate. Who would be responsible for an accident if an autonomous car is involved? What if these computer-controlled cars try to kill their passengers? Although these are legitimate concerns, self-driving cars will benefit society because of their safety and accessibility. …show more content…
Out of those killed, 5,560 were people 65 and older (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], 2012). These statistics are frightening, to say the least. Following in the footsteps of revolutionary vehicle safety devices, such as the seatbelt and the airbag, autonomous vehicles will save thousands of lives every year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a study on driverless cars and concluded that vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology combined could potentially address “up to 80 percent of all unimpaired