So How Exactly Are Driverless Cars Going to Change Everything?
People often talk about a transport revolution being on the horizon. Sounds pretty exciting, right? But there are plenty of people out there who have been disappointed with the result so far. After all, weren’t driverless cars supposed to be all over the place by now? (And for that matter, didn’t the 1950s promise us that we’d have hovering cars and rocket skates by now?)
Well things may not be as obvious as people thought they might be, but there are definitely a lot of big changes on the horizon. Why not have a look at the way in which driverless cars are going to change our roads in the future. (Which may not be as near as experts have predicted, but still.)
There are certainly going to be some interesting ethical questions that will arise when it comes to driverless cars. But let’s take a look at some of the bigger, more obvious effects!
The costs of ownership
When people think about driverless cars, they often think about high costs. After all, surely there’s no way those “robot cars” are going to be as affordable as regular cars? This is one of the reasons that many people are skeptical about the whole thing.
But there are actually a lot of ways in which driverless cars will save us money. There are the fuel costs, which we’ll discuss a bit later. But for businesses there are even more bonuses. Being able to get certain jobs done without human labor will make the running of these things in professional spheres much cheaper.
Accidents and safety
So wait, how exactly is a robot supposed to be safer behind the wheel than an actual human being? Well, the biggest concern for the companies creating these vehicles is safety. So rest assured that the safety functionalities are quite advanced in these cars. In fact, cars that feature some form of computer automation are already subject to lower insurance fees.
You may have heard a bunch of scary news regarding driverless car accidents. But the fact is that they’re still a lot less likely to crash than a human being. After all, most crashes are caused by human error. Still, the manufacturer of a driverless car will still be subject to legal action if an accident requires you to contact a car accident lawyer!
Fuel and the environment
Driverless cars are supposed to be all about efficiency. With that in mind, it makes sense that these technologies are going to help when it comes to fuel consumption. This is going to help a lot with the environment, of course. But most people (unfortunately, but understandably) are going to be more concerned about the effects on their wallets. Needless to say, less fuel consumption translates into more savings.
An alarming amount of our fuel use comes from unnecessary tasks, mistakes, and moments of idleness. Driverless cars are designed to keep all of this to a minimum. In fact, in a perfectly designed road system filled with driverless cars, there should be very little need for any of the cars to stop or even accelerate to gas-guzzling speeds.