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For a long time everyone thought that flying cars were the next big step in automotive technology. After wising up and realising that the world needs new technology to make driving easier and safer, driverless vehicles entered the conversation.
Road accidents claim millions of lives every year and cause tens of millions of severe injuries, with human error being responsible for about 90% of these accidents. At the moment, driverless cars are the most realistic way of solving this problem.
Development is well underway, and many of biggest names in the car and tech worlds are competing for and collaborating on self-driving cars. In just a few short years driverless cars have gone from being a futuristic dream to an inevitable, and in some ways problematic, reality.
A fully driverless car has to obey road rules, respond quickly to unexpected situations and drive safely in all circumstances. In other words, it has to be better than the average human driver.
This level of accuracy is achieved with built-in systems that constantly analyse the car’s surroundings and automatically take the right action. The exact technologies used in self-driving cars vary between manufacturers, and are often closely guarded secrets, but generally all self-driving cars have three key parts:
Experimental Google cars wear their
LADAR system like a hat.
By Steve Jurvetson [CC BY 2.0],
via Wikimedia Commons
In order to “see” where it’s going and “be aware” of hazards, self-driving cars need sophisticated detection technology. To date, most driverless cars have used a combination of LADAR (lasers used to measure distance), radar and cameras to see obstacles like guardrails, other vehicles, buildings and pedestrians, important indicators like lane dividers and road markers and even to read street signs.
The first ever self-driving car fatality was caused by a LADAR error in a Tesla Model S, when a car on autopilot drove right into a truck that pulled out in front of it. This happened because it was a white truck and an overcast day. The LADAR misidentified the off-white truck as part of the grey sky, so the car didn’t hit the brakes.
Road-ready cars such as the Tesla
Model S hide their LADAR system in
the bumpers and the car body.
By Niels de Wit from Lunteren, The Netherlands
[CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Several companies, including Google, are programming their cars to not take any action, such as changing lanes, accelerating or braking, unless there is a 0% chance of it resulting in an accident. Theoretically, this ensures perfect safety as long as all the sensors and electronics work as intended, and as long as nearby human drivers don’t do anything unpredictable. However, it’s important to keep in mind that this technology is new and the kinks are still being ironed out. There have been accidents involving driverless cars, including one fatality, but many of these have come down to driver error.
The biggest and most obvious advantage of self-driving cars is safety. Autonomous vehicles outperform human drivers across the board. They have:
Another clear advantage is efficiency.By itself, an individual driverless car can be more efficient in almost every way, but having the roads full of autonomous vehicles would change everything:
April 2016 saw a successful test of self-driving truck platoons. Six convoys of self-driving trucks left factories all around Europe and drove themselves to Holland. Each convoy consisted of two or three vehicles, all connected by wireless devices, and one lead truck that determined the route and speed of all vehicles in the convoy.
This test successfully demonstrated that driverless vehicles can adjust to different road rules when crossing national borders and that there are benefits to be had from networking multiple driverless vehicles together. It also showed real efficiency gains. The trucks didn’t need to stop for food or rest, maintained consistent speeds across enormous distances and were able to improve energy efficiency by slipstreaming (following another vehicle closely).
When cars first hit the market all those years ago, they promised a new type of freedom. Unfortunately this didn’t really help anyone who was blind or otherwise disabled and unable to drive. Driverless cars bring a whole new promise of freedom, which is more important than it might seem.
Tesla drivers had safely used the self-driving autopilot feature for a combined 160 million kilometers before it resulted in a fatal accident. By contrast, human-driven cars tend to have a fatal accident every 96 million kilometers.
Like most revolutionary technology, driverless vehicles will have a big economic impact that we’re largely unprepared for. One of the best ways to get an idea of what to expect is by looking at certain critical industries. Consider trucking, for example.
Trucking will switch to driverless vehicles as soon as possible. This is because driverless trucks will earn much more and cost less. Driverless trucks don’t need to take breaks, can travel a lot faster, use less fuel and are much safer. Any trucking company that doesn’t switch to driverless vehicles will be at a huge disadvantage next to its competitors, so most companies will be keen early adopters.
This type of pattern will be seen across many areas. Driverless cars promise much more efficiency and cost-effectiveness than human drivers and any business that doesn’t make the switch will find itself at a competitive disadvantage. This means that the mass uptake of driverless vehicles for business purposes could sweep across the world before they ever become similarly popular for personal use.
The downsides will most likely be severe and largely unavoidable, particularly if you work in an affected industry.
There are still a few problems that need to be overcome before driverless cars are ready to replace human drivers.
Fully autonomous vehicles aren’t on the roads yet, except for testing purposes, but there are many assisted driving technologies already out there. These systems are the stepping stones to driverless tech, and are quite widely available in Australia.
The good news is that you can get these features without breaking the bank, and some might even save you money in the long run by preventing accidents and lowering your insurance costs. You might want to consider getting a car with these features if:
If you’re buying a car with financing, then these are still worth considering, not only as valuable features for your car, but also for how they might help your insurance costs.
The technology | What does it do? | Which cars have it? | How advanced is it? | How much does it cost? |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adaptive cruise control | Cruise control that also adjusts your speed to match the car in front | High-end cars from most major manufacturers within the last two years | Earlier versions require a lot of human input, but recent models can take over for extended periods of time | About $2,000 extra, depending on the system |
Automatic parking | Takes over entirely and parks the car for you | Recent models of the Ford Focus, Audi A6, Jeep Cherokee, all new sixth generation BMW 3 Series, most new Mercedes-Benz models and many more | Within the last two years cars have become able to safely park themselves in most situations | About $1,000 extra |
Hands-off steering | Makes the car steer itself; the closest thing to a fully driverless car | Specific models of newer, higher-end cars | Cars are generally able to drive themselves in good, clear conditions, but have difficulties in more complex situations | $3,000 to $6,000 extra, depending mostly on which other features it comes bundled with |
Automatic lane-keeping | Warns you if you drift over lanes, can automatically steer you back | Many different models and manufacturers have varying forms of this | It generally depends on having clearly visible lane markers, but newer versions have more control than older ones | Starts from about $1,500 extra, depending on whether it’s a warning system only or if it also has automatic steering |
No one is entirely sure what will happen to car insurance when fully autonomous cars hit the roads in large numbers, but it’s clear that it will need a lot of adjustments.
When will driverless cars be available?
They already are if you count assisted driving technology or look at certain industries. Proper, fully autonomous driverless vehicles will likely be ready for the public market by 2025. Some prominent figures, like Tesla’s Elon Musk, say it will be sooner than this.
How much will a driverless car cost?
When it first hits the market, expect to see driverless technology as an optional extra with new cars. The cost of it will depend on how recent the technology still is. Industry groups estimate that in the year 2025 a driverless system will add an extra $7,000-$10,000 to the sticker price of a vehicle, in 2030 it will cost an extra $5,000 or so and in 2035 the cost will drop to about $3,000.
Have there been any driverless car accidents?
There has been only one known fatality that has resulted from driverless or driver-assist technology, but there have been a lot of smaller incidents. These are almost always a case of driver error. Several Tesla drivers have had accidents while inadvisably testing the limits of their car’s self-driving system, while Google’s driverless cars have had well over a dozen minor accidents while being tested on public roads and every single one of them has been the fault of the other driver.
Which companies are making self-driving cars?
Most of the big names in the car industry and many technology companies are investing heavily in driverless car technology. These include BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, General Motors, Volvo, Ford, Audi, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and more. Others, such as Jaguar, have said that driverless technology goes against their ethos of driving for fun and that they have no intention of releasing driverless vehicles. In most cases, including Jaguar’s, companies have changed their minds in the face of research showing that most people want to own a driverless car someday.
Could driverless cars get hacked and taken over?
Theoretically, yes, but so can many of today’s cars, which are already connected through networks. The extra attention that will be spent on driverless system security in the coming years means that the technology will be safer than that of today’s vehicles.
Picture: Shutterstock
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