Driverless cars have been a hot topic lately. The idea of autonomous vehicles has long been hailed as the future of transportation, with advocates arguing they could significantly reduce traffic accidents by eliminating human error—the cause of an estimated 85 percent of crashes.
However, the reality so far is looking quite different. Real-world performance remains flawed, and governments have yet to create a liability system should things go awry, and things certainly have on a number of occasions. So, while the future may still be driverless, the future isn't now.
The promise
In addition to improving road safety, driverless cars may also improve mobility for people who can’t drive, like the elderly or disabled. More broadly, widespread AV adoption could ease traffic congestion, smooth out traffic flows, reduce harmful emissions, and ultimately transform how we commute and organize urban transport.
Safety
"Algorithms can’t get drunk, drowsy, or distracted," the BBC rightly said. But while conceptually, self-driving cars should be safer by eliminating human error, it hasn't necessarily been the case.
Self-driving cars rely on sensors, cameras, AI, and algorithms, which are all prone to failure. Sensor malfunctions, poor weather or road conditions, unpredictable pedestrian behavior, and unusual driving contexts can cause misjudgments or delayed reactions.
There have been actual casualties because of this. In 2018, a woman was killed by a self-driving Uber test vehicle, and Tesla was held accountable for another fatal incident that happened in 2019. Tesla is currently being probed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after it received 59 reports of traffic violations by cars operating in full self-driving mode.
Legal concerns
When an autonomous vehicle causes an accident, who is to blame? The owner of the car? The manufacturer? The software developer? Accident liability is a complex and nuanced factor that governments don't have policies yet. It's untreaded waters that could get messy.
What happens when we put important split-second decisions—like whose safety to prioritize in an unaviable crash scenario—in the hands of computers? When there are competing hazards, driverless cars must sometimes choose the safety of passengers over the safety of pedestrians, or vice versa. This is really entering science fiction territory.
Privacy & security
Autonomous vehicles depend heavily on data—from GPS location to driving behavior, surroundings, and sensor feeds. This creates privacy concerns, like whose data is collected, who stores it, and who can access it? Imagine if driverless vehicles become the target of cybercriminals. Imagine if they're hacked by someone malicious who manages to gain control over the steering, brakes, and acceleration. The consequences could be dire.
Economic impact
Think of all the people making a living driving Ubers, cabs, trucks, and delivery vehicles. The widespread adoption of driverless cars might make all these jobs obsolete. Governments and societies will need to address potential unemployment, retraining, and support systems before it happens.
Driverless cars are a promising but highly controversial technology, and with good reason. With cars being a part of everyday life in many parts of the country, it's easy to forget your vehicle is a potentially lethal piece of machinery, but there were about 40,000 traffic fatalities in the US alone last year.
Driverless cars have the potential to save lives and revolutionize transport, but the technology is still immature. For this to succeed, we need robust safety testing in real-world scenarios, clear regulation, new social policies, and strong safeguards.
