Taking Freedom to Another Level – Is That A Good Thing Or Bad?

“Did you know that driving accidents are the number one cause of death for young people and almost all of them are due to human error instead of machine errors and can be prevented by machines” stated by Sebastian Thrun, creator of the Google Driverless Car, in his Ted Talk lecture. The creation of the autonomous car is going to cause a significant social change. Despite the fact that there are cars with driverless technologies, trust is a major part in accepting a driverless vehicle.

The robot car can have many benefits and advantages. For one, it is known to have fewer traffic accidents because of its fast reactions, quick navigation and reliability. It can also reduce traffic congestion, which can ultimately decrease the risk of crashes. The public is able to regain wasted time on the road while being stuck in traffic or going from one destination to another. We are able to do just about anything in the comfort of our own vehicle: talk on the phone, text, change the radio station; all distractions that cause accidents. The autonomous vehicle acts as a chauffer. This is an advantage for not only teenagers, but also for adults. For instance, the car can take the kids to their basketball practice and come back home to pick the parents up and drop them off at happy hour. Also, no need to look for a designated driver when going out, you can trust the Google car to get you there safely. It is also beneficial in helping disabled individuals who are unable to drive such as handicapped and the blind.

On the contrary, the driverless car also has some negative changes as well. If the vehicle made a mistake and you get stopped by a cop, who gets the ticket? If one of these vehicles crashes against another, whose insurance pays the claim? The vehicle can cause many legality issues. So far, the car has only been tested in Nevada, California and Florida, thus it is not available for everyone. The equipment alone costs over $200,000, therefore, the estimated cost is most likely out of almost everyone's price range. There are third world countries that cannot even afford a computer in their own home, much less a $200,000 vehicle. The Google automobile can undergo various corruptions as well. As of right now, it cannot work under harsh weather conditions. The car is computer generated which can act up, freeze, have glitches; therefore, it can be extremely difficult to get it back to normal. People can hack into the computer system and lead you to different destinations, have your car shut down numerous amounts of times, cause chaos and accidents, etc. Also, if the price is affordable for everyone, people are never going to learn how to drive because we will have robotic cars that will do it for us. One of its beneficial features are the brakes which stops for pedestrians and any other object. This is not always a good thing because if it stops abruptly for a walking turtle then it can result in a crash. Finally, the design of the car itself is not appealing; it resembles a car searching for extraterrestrial creatures or tornados with a huge scanner and radars all over the exterior of the motor. 

Google Driverless Car: Are We Ready?

Imagine a car that did the driving for you, a steering wheel that moves on its own, looks in all directions at all times, follows all driving laws and regulations such as driving the speed limit, putting the turning signal and merging on the highway. From public roads to highways, the autonomous car does it all. It constantly reacts to our surroundings and measures acceleration and rotation all at once. The Google Driverless car works hand in hand with a sensor on top of the vehicle, video cameras inside the automobile and radars that are located all over the exterior of the car. The radar and scanners are associated with 64 lasers that are able to calculate the distance between you and the car in front of you, make quick decisions, use gps features and anything else you can think of. We are able to do unimaginable things such as not worrying about parking when going to class and being able to put make up on, brush our hair, read, write, text, talk on the phone and do just about everything.

The creator of the autonomous car, Sebastian Thrun, is a German robotics developer and computer scientist. He is also the CEO of Udacity and a research professor at Stanford University in Computer Science. After Thrun lost his best friend to a car accident, he decided to create a safer way to drive with this innovation. As stated in his Ted Talk performance, Thrun goes on to say that the Google Driverless car has been proven to drive better than humans thus safer, easier and stress free. “Currently, there have been cars already out with certain self-driving features such as traffic jam assistance, pre collision systems and cruise control maneuvers. However, there hasn’t been a car out where human contact is practically obsolete and applicable by the systems techniques until now. Although, it hasn’t been predicted in when it will come out, it is in progression and already been tested. Researchers of all auto companies such as Toyota, Lexus, Audi, BMW have been working for decades in creating autonomous driving technologies. With $150,000 in equipment and a $70,000 laser radar system, the car can be estimated to be too expensive for consumers today. This is easily an upcoming revolution on the road that many are contemplating and intrigued by. 

*Citations of pictures and where the innovation idea was gotten from in first comment