THE PROS AND CONS OF DRIVERLESS CARS

Increasing advances in technology with each coming year have affected humanity in many ways. Driverless cars are also one of the major breakthroughs in science. On the other hand, they aren’t a recent invention. The concept was first introduced in the Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. General Motors offered an automated highway system which would guide driverless vehicles to their destination. Then, there were many remarkable developments regarding such cars. Some people are enthusiastic about these advances while some others refuse to use driverless cars owing to a variety of reasons. Thus, both advantages and disadvantages must be evaluated before taking further action.

Driverless cars have various undeniable downsides. To begin with, the human factor cannot be completely eliminated through existing technology. People must know how to operate the vehicle in emergency situations. Drivers should also know how to maintain such cars properly. Moreover, since computers reach a final decision, ethical issues are also thorny problems. There is no clear consensus as to what will happen if a driverless car going at full speed encounters an individual crossing the street. Should it run into this person or decide to take the vehicle off-road even if passengers will be injured? As for such cars’ operating system, we encounter another weighty matter. The operating systems are susceptible to hacking, and hence, security is a knotty problem. That means terrorists can access specific control mechanisms and thus program computers to carry out violent actions such as a vehicle attack. There is also a subtle point concerning this matter. As self-driving cars could collect so much personal information, marketers may use this information to create individualized advertising. How can that occur? When humans use a self-driving car, it’s computer stores information about the trip. Namely, all your private information such as the stores you prefer to visit, and the restaurants you like will be collected. This data would be a treasure trove of input for marketers if automobile manufacturers sold it to them. Similar to artificial intelligence, driverless cars may cause the loss of jobs. In other words, this technology would make people driving taxis or delivering food virtually obsolete. Since people who cannot drive a car would start to own a self-driving car, traffic jams would also increase sharply. Apart from the above mentioned points, there are numerous insurmountable problems: What will happen in the event of a collision? Who will be at fault and who will pay for the repairs? The car manufacturers or the drivers?

Even though it is frustrating to think about the drawbacks, we have to consider the advantages also. Because drivers display undesirable behaviour while travelling by car, self-driving cars will reduce the number of accidents. Many lives will be saved thanks to this. Some research ascertained that over 80% of automobile crashes spring from human error.  For this reason, insurance costs associated with damage will also markedly decrease. As computers are in more control, there may be fewer road rage incidents. Another upside  of driverless cars is that individuals with disabilities will have less dependence on the public transportation systems offering unpredictable schedules. These people won’t ask for the aid of others, which also means the handicapped will have greater mobility. Self-driving cars could work with higher speed limits since computers can calculate all the probabilities related to the safety of driving, a multitude of measures like speed limits on the  roads will be unnecessary. This also means that people might adress their other needs while the vehicle transports them to their destination. Driverless cars would reduce the amount of fuel as well. This is because such cars can avoid high traffic areas and places where there are severe weather conditions thanks to communicating with each other. Commute times will also be reduced because these cars will know where they can maximize speed to ensure the quickest possible commute. Moreover, the probability of missing an exit will be eliminated since this stems from human error. Lastly, self-driving cars could reduce the number of automobile thefts because biometric technologies can recognize fingerprints and faces; these are  used as our passwords for our devices and could also apply to self-driving cars. This means if someone else tries to use our car, it will refuse to start or immediately shut itself down.

In conclusion, driverless cars have positive and negative aspects. However, in my opinion, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. It is a well known fact that 1.3 million people are killed worldwide every year owing to traffic accidents. Although the fact remains that we cannot know what the future holds, I am of the firm opinion that autonomous vehicles will eradicate all fatalities. Moreover, the handicapped will have a chance to be more active in social life.

                                                                                          CEM KOCA