Will Self Driving Cars be the Only Thing we See on the Road?

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Technology has advanced a lot in the past 20 years, and one of the most recent developments is self driving or autonomous vehicles. These vehicles have the goal of being completely self driving meaning the driver doesn't have to do anything the entire trip except tell the car what the final destination is. Companies like Waymo, based in the bay area, are very close to perfecting the technology and the biggest challenge for them now are getting laws to make self driving cars completely legal. 

With the introduction of self driving cars, people wonder what will happen to manual driving cars in the future when self driving becomes more commercialized. Some people think it could take over the car industry and everything on the road will be robot controlled in the near future. This would cause a major shift in the market. Car manufacturers that don't switch soon could be behind when autonomous vehicles enter the market and their profits could feel the effect of that. 

Of course, all of this depends on the consumer and what they decide to do. Personally I don't think self driving cars will dominate the market when they hit the streets. People don't trust technology that easily and would rather have control than technology. I also think people just love to drive too, and there will be a large population that will never give up the feel of whipping around corners and laying down rubber. 




https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/how-self-driving-cars-could-ruin-the-american-city/569518/
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/this-many-autonomous-cars-will-be-on-the-road-in-2025-14564388

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 6, 2019 at 8:05 PM

    Great post! I would agree with you, I don't think self driving cars will dominate the market when they first hit the streets. I completely believe that right now, people just don't trust technology enough. However, I don't think it will be long before self driving cars do have an impact on the market. Currently, it's pretty common for Gen Z'ers (our generation) to not know how to drive. And if they do, for the most part, many of them didn't get their license until later and were dependent on their parents. I wouldn't be surprised if in the later future, today's children might rely on a self driving car as they might not truly see the need to ever learn how to drive. I think right now, there is a period of transition for automobiles combined with tech for sure.

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  2. AnonymousApril 6, 2019 at 10:20 PM

    This post is really interesting because I agree that self driving cars won't dominate the market when they first come out due to suspicion of technology, but also because of the possible legal conflicts that can arise through using self driving cars. When someones who is using a self driving car hits and kills a person, is it really that person's fault or the algorithm's fault. If the system glitches and swerves on a highway, is it really the person's fault for not pressing the brakes fast enough? Without definitive answers to these questions, as well as Google and other algorithm makers agreeing to take responsibility for any mistakes, it's unlikely that self driving cars will have a large market share.

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  3. AnonymousApril 7, 2019 at 12:13 AM

    I agree with the fact that it might not be immediately popular. However, the initial idea behind self-driving cars was to make driving safer by eliminating human error, so the idea behind it is to have only self driving cars on the street to completely eliminate human error. This would definitely take a while and pretty much take down the entire automobile industry. Self-driving cars aren't as safe on the road with other people still driving, but once it's completely automated it'll reduce car accidents by up to 90%. Eventually people will get used to and start trusting in the automation behind these cars, and while personally I love driving and would not want to see that part of our lives be replaced by robots, I also don't have a doubt that this will happen sometime in the near future.

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  4. AnonymousApril 7, 2019 at 3:43 PM

    Interesting post. I also don't think self driving cars will dominate the market due to its probable high pricing and the fact that people may not trust the technology that will be presented in those self-driving cars. If anything, the prices for regular cars will go down and could be more attainable for people. With the way technology and our generation keeps constantly moving, I wouldn't be surprised If self-driving cars were to be the norm.

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  5. AnonymousApril 25, 2019 at 6:50 PM

    I agree, I think when self driving cars initially hit the market, many will be skeptical and scared of what they are capable of doing. Not to mention that they will be extremely expensive. On top of this, there will be a mountain of rules and regulations that self driving cars will have to jump over before they hit the streets in masses. However, over time, I expect them to become ubuquitous. As the technology improves, the laziness of mankind will prevail. Think about how much better it would be if you didn't actually have to drive. This reminds me of the movie "Minority Report" which takes place in the future. In teh movie they display an interconnected system of self driving cars that span across the sky. It could take a while, but I could see this happening in the future.

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  6. AnonymousApril 26, 2019 at 4:01 AM

    I agree, I think no one will really buy into the concept of self driving cars when they are first released. There will be problems, crashes and malfunctions that will cause people to be cautious of this new technology. But as it is improved along with improvements through AI, people will see firsthand how it not only works well, but can save them a lot of work, and will slowly gain popularity. Like with many things we take for granted today, I believe it will be something deeply incorporated into our daily lives that we will not be able to go without.

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