Self-Driving Cars

By: Matthew Manross

Im sure we've all seen self driving cars in movies and tv shows.  But exactly how far are we away from seeing self driving cars in our everyday life? The answer may not be as far away as you would think.

Companies today are already slowly implementing some technology to their cars that advance us towards self driving cars. You've probably seen commercials for cars that apply the breaks before you do. This small change is a small step towards self-driving cars on a large scale. Many more small changes will be added to the cars we see today before any final product of a self-driving car comes out.

One huge benefit of self driving cars is helping the old/impaired. Many of us would agree that at a certain age, people just shouldn't be driving. But with the introduction of the self-driving car, older people could go on with their everyday activities without endangering their or anyones life. This could also apply to those people who may be physically impaired.

Google is one of the first companies to try and develop the 100% self driving car. The picture to the right is a example of google's self-driving car prototype. Google has been able to successfully have the car drive around for hundreds of thousands of miles. So when exactly could we see these cars out on the streets? Google claims to have a final product as early as summer of 2016. Although there are still much more testing that needs to be done before these cars hit the markets.

A self-driving could also save lives. We all know humans are not perfect and make plenty of mistakes, especially when it comes to driving. With all of our new gadgets today, it makes driving very distracting. Studies show that "94% of all car accidents in the U.S involve human error". With self-driving cars, the number of accidents will significantly decrease. People will be able to talk, text, and play games as much as they want while the car drives itself. Another study showed that "Deaths from traffic accidents—over 1.2 million worldwide every year". The introduction of the self-driving car could save millions of lives all around the world.


Works Cited

"Google Self-Driving Car Project." Google Self-Driving Car Project. Web. 14 Feb. 2016. <https://www.google.com/selfdrivingcar/>.

Image credit

"Google Self-driving Cars to Hit the Streets in the US This Summer." 2015. Web. 14 Feb. 2016. <http://www.techetron.com/16048/google-self-driving-cars-to-hit-the-streets-in-the-us-this-summer/>.