I don’t know about you, but I find the whole self-driving car saga fascinating. Proponents tout the potential to free us up during our commute, vastly increase safety, and cut down on traffic jams and pollution. Perhaps an overly rosy-colored view, but, considering there were more than 30,000 traffic related fatalities in the U.S. in 2013, we’ve got plenty of reasons to improve the current system.
With quite a bit more testing and fine-tuning to be done--especially in trickier urban areas--fully automated cars are likely still a few decades away. However, many think semi-autonomous car features will be widely in use by 2020, and there’s now finally enough data to begin getting a handle on the implications of this new technology. With 1.7 million miles logged, Google’s self-driving cars have yet to cause an accident, though people sure keep running into them. Those that have had a chance to ride in an autonomous vehicle generally report back at how underwhelming the experience is* (which is probably a good thing), since, legally, the cars can’t be programmed to speed or bend the rules of the road in any way. In addition to autonomous cars, the data collected has also shed light on the driving habits of humans as well as detailed info on the causes of crashes and traffic jams. Filing a police report or insurance claim in the near future may just consist of forking over your car’s detailed system log.
Approaching this as a more general think piece, it’s a timely topic as Denver continues to grapple with explosive growth in population and, consequently, worsening traffic. If one believes the hype, it seems autonomous cars could go a long way in improving gridlock, pollution, parking, and traffic safety here in the Mile High City. We’ve automated a ton of other things in our daily routines, so why not cars? Interestingly, though, most people are still leery of fully automated cars despite growing evidence of their benefit.
What about you? Do you think self-driving cars are the answer to our traffic, pollution, and road safety woes? Are they the future or mere science fiction? How do you feel about handing over your keys to a robot? Share your thoughts in the comments.
* This link contains material that some readers may find offensive.
