Whilst the idea of driverless cars may seem something unimaginable out of a science fiction film, in recent years they have emerged in cities across the US and China. This article discusses how they work and their potential to benefit road safety, as well as possible complications.
How Do They Work?
Driverless or autonomous cars use sensors to drive. The sensors are built into multiple parts of the car. The sensors identify objects ahead and steer and change direction. Autonomous cars also use embedded video cameras to detect other vehicles, pedestrians and road signs. They only function according to their built-in video sensors, Iveco daily gearbox and programming.
Safer Roads
Are autonomous cars safer than your typical car? Autonomous cars are robotic driving machines. Whilst this reality may seem initially frightening, normal cars are operated by humans that can easily get distracted, upset or angry, whereas driverless cars don’t respond to emotions or distractions. As a staggering 1.3 million people die every year in car accidents, with 94% of crashes due to human error – a problem that can be solved by driverless cars. This shows that autonomous cars don’t hold the unpredictable risk human error poses. They are designed with the sole purpose of driving with extreme safety and caution. They are programmed to follow the rules of the road.
Safety, Security and Environmental Awareness
As discussed above, driverless cars have greater reliability than their counterparts. Better driving skills will mean fewer accidents. Fewer accidents will also reduce congestion, cut emissions and benefit the environment.
Trusting Driverless Cars
With the long list of benefits of autonomous cars, it may be difficult to imagine any drawbacks, although their reliability over human drivers is certainly questionable. Whilst they do not have the risk of human error, they are still machines that are susceptible to malfunction. How many times has your computer crashed in the last year?
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Are we really at a stage of human existence where we can trust machines with our lives? Can driverless cars really handle unpredictable situations better than the human mind? How would autonomous cars respond to extreme weather? What might happen if their code was hacked or re-programmed to intentionally cause harm?
