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.