Driverless Cars: A Good Idea?

by Sarnaz Hossain

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are yet to be fully established on UK roads, but the UK Government has committed to an investment in research and testing associated with self-driving cars. Many believe that driverless cars are the future and that as much effort as possible should be put into making them a reality but there are also those who believe that they are a threat to society. In this short article I will comment on both sides of the argument and reach my own conclusion.  

On the one hand, many believe that the implementation of self-driving cars could dramatically reduce road accidents. Every year, over 30,000 traffic related deaths take place in the United States alone. According to multiple studies, human error can be attributed to at least 90% of these incidents. The use of AVs on the roads would, in theory, dramatically reduce this statistic. This is due to the fact that AVs can be programmed and have limitations set within that programming. For example, a self-driving car could be forced to stay below the speed limit at all times and this would definitely reduce the number of accidents on the road. In addition to this, self-driving cars would always give way when they are required to and would, without fail, stop at stop signs. It is common knowledge that most drivers do not always obey all of the rules of the road and this has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. On top of the safety factor, the use of AVs on the road would also increase travel efficiency and therefore reduce traffic and pollution overall. If all cars on the road are autonomous, then they should all be travelling at equal speeds and there would never be a traffic jam or crash of any kind. Driverless cars would reduce the number of incidents on the road and also reduce pollution on the road and in the air.

On the other hand, many believe that the introduction of self-driving cars onto public roads will only increase the number of accidents. This is due to the interaction between pedestrians and AVs. The general public believes that the concept of cars without drivers presents a threat to their wellbeing. THis can be largely blamed on popular culture and science fiction. Examples of automatons spiralling out of control in films and books are endless and this can be seen as one of the primary issues behind the public’s distrust of autonomous vehicles. Despite the arguments for releasing AVs onto the road, the general public believes that they would be a threat. There are, in all fairness, several examples of autonomous vehicles making mistakes and hurting people which can add to the fear that people hold. The introduction of self-driving cars onto the road prior to full development would definitely result in some incidents and I don’t think this can be avoided. The artificial intelligence systems and incident avoidance systems that would be built into the self driving capability would be undeveloped and would need continuous testing whilst out on the road to fully become fail-proof. Many people believe that the use of AVs on the road before they are fully developed is a bad idea as it will only increase the number of road accidents. 

To summarise, the people who are for self-driving cars believe that the implementation of self-driving systems would decrease the frequency of road accidents and also decrease pollution and congestion. People who are against self-driving cars believe that they pose a threat to life and that it is impossible to make a machine act like a human. I feel that whilst it may pose a slightly higher threat to society to release self-driving cars onto the road before they are fully developed, I understand that these vehicles require accurate testing to make them perfect. When a human driver learns to drive, studies have shown that they learn more when learning in a real driving environment rather than in an enclosed area. This situation can be transferred to driverless vehicles, proposing the concept that AVs will be able to receive more accurate and usable results from testing if that testing is carried out on the road whilst the cars have to deal with other drivers and pedestrians at all times. I believe that more investments should be made into driverless systems and that they should be released onto the roads wherever possible.