Driverless Cars are here!

The automotive industry has taken a big leap in the last couple of years, changing the world as we know it. Features like self-parking, self-braking, and advanced safety systems, have made our driving more efficiently, enjoyable and much safer. But this is just the beginning, and what’s best is yet to come. Actually, it’s already here, but not at a large scale, at least not yet. Self-driving cars will be the next big boom for the auto industry bringing an 180-degree change. A recent forecast made by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) reveals that by 2040, 75% of all the vehicles on the road will be fully automated, leaving behind the traditional cars. Although the advantages of driverless cars are huge and seem very attractive, we still need to think objectively and take into consideration the drawbacks as well.

Security Issues –  It’s a well-known fact that any device connected to the internet is a big target for cyber-criminals, and self-driving cars are front and center. Since the autonomous cars are being ‘driven’ by an application and algorithms, hackers can easily gain control over the entire car by hacking its code. At this point, they will control everything, including a passenger’s life. However, since we’re not expecting to see driverless cars on the road sooner than 2020, researchers have plenty of time to find new and better ways to increase their security.

Limited abilities – While riding in a driverless car, passengers will have limited abilities, and they will need to rely only on the technology that’s embedded in the car. To give an example, in case a life and death decision is required, and the car’s system crashes or malfunctions, the damages could be devastating taking into consideration that the passengers will have their hands tied and no control at all over the situation.

Driverless cars will eliminate many jobs in the transportation sector – Currently, more than 2 million people earn their existence from driving either a taxi, truck or a bus. Since autonomous cars will soon make the driver prehistoric, all driving-related jobs will be lost leading to a significant increase in the unemployment rate for these industries.

Privacy concerns – Driverless cars rely on gathering and sharing a user’s data location. Where you are living and where are you going, all this information could become public, and users will have limited control over how it will be used further on.

However, regardless of the advantages or disadvantages that self-driving cars have, the biggest question that most of us might be asking is – Can we really trust them with our lives? Some studies reported that in the US alone around 90 people die in car crashes involving human error. The technology that self-driving cars are using isn’t perfect, still it’s much safer than human drivers. Looking forward to seeing how this will end up! Care to share any thoughts?