The Pros And Cons Of Driverless Vehicles

In addition to location mapping, driverless vehicles are efficient through their decision-making abilities. Through algorithms that would reduce the amount of human errors made, the vehicles would be less prone to accidents than human drivers, which would lead to reduced insurance and health costs, reduced deaths, reduced property damage from traffic accidents, and lower gas consumption (Ferreras, "The Driverless City"). Lawrence D. Burns, author of "Autonomous Vehicles: No Drivers Required”, echoes the viewpoint that driverless cars will decrease deaths from road accidents, since approximately 90% of road accidents are caused by driver error ("Sustainable Mobility: A Vision Of Our Transport Future"; Waldrop, "Autonomous Vehicles: No Drivers …show more content…
However, because of Thrun’s position as the lead developer of the Google car, it is likely he is biased towards the benefits of driverless vehicles because his profession is tied to the success of such cars. While Thrun’s bias opens the door for the argument that artificial intelligence cannot be accountable to effectively make decisions, and that it is simply an idea promoted by the developers of autonomous cars, a report from the European New Car Assessment program proves otherwise. This report found that autonomous emergency braking cars reduced rear-end collisions by 38% when compared to cars lacking the self-braking mechanisms, according to an article from the credible Journal of the American Society of Safety Engineers that details safety features for cars with significant potential (TS, "NCAP Finds Self-Braking Cars Reduce Collisions By 38%"). This proves that artificial intelligence has the capacity to reduce automobile