Introduction
A self-driven car may seem like a huge step into the future and something impossible for many people, but these cars have been developed by engineers from Google and many major automobile companies such as Audi, GM, and Toyota since 2002. It was not until recently in 2012 that cars that could drive themselves were truly processed and began to take shape into what they are now in 2013. Many car companies have already invested lots of money towards the research and development of self driving cars, so with time, we will learn and do more and more with this innovation until it is ready to be distributed into the public for regular use. By using the most modern technology and funds from an incredibly large group of investors, Google has created the future of driving.
Background
Self-driving cars or autonomous cars were first thought up back in the 1970s, but were never fully researched and developed until three Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or in 2002, 2005, and 2007 exhibited the wonder that is the self-driven car. Google announced that it would begin production of these modern marvels in 2011, driverless cars began to make their way to the streets for testing. It was in 2012 that these cars started to pick up speed and became vastly popular. In 2012, a grand milestone for the developers of the driverless car as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “is widely expected to announce standards and mandates for car-borne beacons” (Fisher, 2013). Currently, research and testing occurs quite often in the West Coast of the U.S., specifically in California and Arizona because of the open roads. So far three states have legalized Google’s driverless cars, but there is no law that requires cars to have drivers in the first place.
Potential Benefits
The self driving car is a great developing technology that will possibly lead to many advancements in the future. I’d have to say, the most obvious benefit of having a driverless car is the fact that people do not have to drive it most of the time. Also due to the fact that it is a hands-free type of thing, drivers have more freedom to do whatever they wish while inside the car including reading, texting, eating, and so on. Since the car is supposed to “utilize laser range and radar to analyze its surroundings, it will be able to automatically avoid potential accidents and thus making it safer than normal driving”, according to Wikipedia. This means if the car will automatically halt when it gets to close to a another solid piece of matter, for example; a person, a tree, a sign, and obviously another vehicle.
Negatives
Self driving cars are still a very new invention that isn’t fully developed, this means there are still many negative effects of the self driving car. To start off, the self driving car will greatly affect our world if it is made essential in society and lead to many negative effects, for example; if there were self-driving vehicles that don’t need assistance from a human in the vehicle to reach its destination this would make many people lose their jobs. People like delivery drivers, taxi drivers, and maybe even pilots would completely lose their jobs. Following this, self driving cars would become so popular and used by so many people, the upcoming generations would never need to learn how to drive, this can be argued as a positive or negative aspect but either way its pretty weird to think one day the skill of driving may no longer be necessary One last huge thing you have to think about is car accidents. Self-driving cars don’t completely eliminate the likelihood of a car accident. In fact, there’s no legal precedent for how a case would be handled. The difficult question of who holds responsibility in a car accident? The driver, the car manufacturer, or the software developer? This would be a very tricky situation to handle.
History
Since the days of Leonardo da Vinci’s supposed robotic cart, people have dreamed of true automobiles: Self-driving cars. As microprocessors and sensing technologies have grown smaller, cheaper and more powerful, and with cars bristling with sophisticated electronic control systems, that day is upon us. Google’s self-driving Toyota Prius hybrids already are racking up more miles than the typical California driver.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_car
- http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/where-to-a-history-of-autonomous-vehicles/
- https://www.wired.com/2012/02/autonomous-vehicle-history/
Originally published 15.10.2019