Selfdriving Cars are Happening!

Autonomous Cars

What is the leading cause of accidents in cars?

Human error.

Humans are perhaps not always focussed on the task at hand. Sometimes when they drive, they don’t know exactly where they are going. They think about other things, speak on their mobile look for stuff in their pockets, argue with their passengers, or just get bored. In addition, sometimes they drink alcohol or take drugs. When other drivers make mistakes, they get very upset and sometimes even try to cause problems deliberately. If they spot an accident, they get curious and slow down. They go to fast or too slow, get in the wrong lane or stop on the shoulder.

In addition, they have may sensory limitations. They can’t see well in the dark, they can only pay attention to one direction, and of course they cannot see what comes around the corner.

Cars operated by complex AI systems are potentially much better at reducing errors. They have the ability to communicate with other cars while driving, they can see in the dark and around corners and they can operate for long periods of time without sleep.

So imagine that cars drive themselves. What kind of benefits might be available?

The safety and security aspect is obvious, but in addition to that there are several other benefits.

For most households the cars is the 2nd or 3rd most valuable asset, probably after the house and the pension. Yet it is only utilised 10% of the time, or even less.

The depreciation of a car is relentless and value gets lost every day that goes by. It would be an obvious advantage to share this asset with someone else.

This is not really practical if you have to drive it there. You need to get back again without a car. It is also difficult for two families to share one car. Who decides where it goes in case of conflict?

But if cars could drive themselves somewhere else, it would work. Perhaps you don’t need it for eight hours while you are at work, or definitely not if you have gone to bed and intends to sleep for eight hours.

While you are not using it, it could be transporting someone else. If all cars on the road had this ability, we would need much fewer cars. It would lessen the pressure on the roads, pollute less, and we could all share the financial burden of ownership.

It would also mean that you could request a car appropriate for what you need, transporting 3 kids and a dog, or transporting 3 boxes of refuse to the landfill.

Unless you really wanted to own a vintage car, there would be no reason to drop a large portion of cash in a vehicle. You would just request a transport service.

Here is another advantage. While you are on the road, you do not have to divert your attention to the traffic. You can finish a report, watch a movie or speak to your fellow passengers. The 90 dead minutes spent on commute can be activated to do something useful or pleasurable.

Every time a transformative invention comes about, there are many doubters. But if the advantages are substantial, eventually the doubters become believers, and after a while the next generation will see the time before the transformative invention as old fashioned.

The technology needed to create autonomous cars is already here. Satellites, advanced software and AI, financial management, and location based transport managemet.

It is not a question of if, but when we will have autonomous cars. The advantages are very significant: reduced accidents, reduced personal travel cost, better use of commute time and a more efficient society. Remember, at a given point in time during the day in the developed world one in five is going somewhere.