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Brock Angel

Professor Taylor

Research Paper

7 October 2017

Driverless Vehicles

It is 2017 and robots have finally taken over the world. Just kidding, not quite. However,

there is a new technology that has been developed that allows for cars to be driven with no

driver. This new technology can allow people to tell a car, or tractor trailer, to go somewhere and

it will do just that. However, like most new things people are skeptical about this and are not sure

if they can trust this new kind of technology, whereas the developers of this technology are

confident in it and say there are far more advantages to this than conventional drivers.

Driverless vehicles, also known as autonomous vehicles, are something that scientists

have been working on for many years. In fact there are now 18 manufactures working on this

technology. Supporters of the driverless vehicles claim that have many benefits that outweigh the

risks. They claim that these driverless vehicles have fewer accidents, create a more efficient

traffic flow, and can offer transportation for people who cannot drive. Whereas the other side, the

critics, claim that they take away jobs, they are susceptible to being hacked, and they have to

make decisions based on algorithms which can be dangerous. These driverless vehicles may be

able to help but they also pose a threat which is a risk some may be willing to take.

Robert J Samuelson with the Washington Post posted an article about driverless vehicles

and some of the risks that they pose. He spoke about the problem they can have with the ability

to be hacked, just like a computer. He said that the appeal of driverless cars is powerful because

it will allow people to do other things while they ride in the car. (Samuelson, Hackers Behind the
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Wheel.) This may seem like a good idea, however it is flawed because the average time a person

spends in their car commuting to work is only 19 minutes. Also, when buying a driverless

vehicle it is said that it can increase the amount of the car by $10,000 which is a hefty toll when

you will only get a few minutes each day from it. Another thing that Samuelson talked about was

the risk of hacking. He says but the real threat is not an ordinary crime. Its cyberwarfare.

(Samuelson, Hackers Behind the Wheel.) This poses a problem because even if the cars are more

efficient, they have the ability to be hacked. If they are hacked they can put many lives at risk.

The hackers will have to ability to steer the vehicle, engage and disengage the brakes and even

control the radio or engine. This alone poses a more dangerous threat than the risk of

conventional driver accident.

In order to fear the self-driving car, you have to at least sort of believe that you or the

humans who drive around you, are better at operating a vehicle than a machine would. (Filler,

Why are we Scared of Self-Driving Cars?) According to the Transportation Department of the

United States they claim that about 90% of accidents were caused by human error and that if

these people were in driverless vehicles the accident would not have occurred. Lane Filler from

Newsday says that there is no reason to be scared of these driverless vehicles. He argues that this

technology is safer than conventional driving because a machine will not be drunk, it will not be

texting or calling while driving, nor will it be eating or falling asleep. (Filler, Why are we Scared

of Self-Driving Cars?) Many of these things are something that could possibly cause a wreck

when a human is driving, and the amount of accidents in the past two years has increased by

14%. Filler also states that people who drive cars now that offer technologies like lane veer

assistance or collision assistance are 75% more likely to use these new driverless technologies

than a driver who has not. (Filler, Why are we Scared of Self-Driving Cars?)
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Seeing a semi-truck pass you on the interstate with no driver, or with a driver not holding

the steering wheel, or not even paying attention to the road can be a concerning event. James P.

Hoffa says The value of a human in that truck wont go away no matter what technology is

developed. (Hoffa, Drivers Wanted.) What he means by this is that it is comforting to see an

actual truck driver behind the wheel of that truck. If there was no driver then it would be very

concerning, even with the new technologies. There have been multiple death scenarios with this

driverless technology. One for example is, In Florida there was a man using Teslas autopilot

technology (Teslas version of a driverless vehicle) and the system failed to recognize the semi-

truck in front of him. Since the technology fail at recognizing the truck it caused his car to slam

into the truck, killing him. This technology is an experiment and we shouldnt be experimenting

with the lives of our citizens on our highways. Those who advocate for self-driving cars often

cite the fact that human error is largely responsible for most traffic deaths. But that doesn't mean

self-driving cars and trucks will be able to avoid those errors. (Hoffa, Drivers Wanted.)

Shawn DuBravac from National Journal Group in his article, With Self-Driving Cars, the

Future Is Now, he said that Self-driving cars will provide new mobility to millions of elderly

and people with disabilities who today have few, if any, options for mobility. (DuBravac, With

Self-Driving Cars, The Future Is Now.) Many people have this argument about the new

driverless vehicles and it is definitely a positive but it is not a flawless idea. DuBravac continued

his argument saying They'll change how we get around and, as a result, what we do.

(DuBravac, With Self-Driving Cars, The Future Is Now.) Which makes sense because it will

allow people to focus on other things while in the car rather than driving.

The thought of driverless vehicles may seem like a good idea on paper but in reality it is

lacking practicality. One of the main concerns for these vehicles would be how precise are they
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and what are their limits. Many times you will drive down a road to find that there are no lines

on the road. The technology will rely on that line and if there is no line the car will lose track of

where it is at and this can be dangerous. Another concern would be when it is windy out. The

traffic lights will swing causing the traffic light color to be unreadable, which is something

common on a windy day. How will the car react? The car can see the lights on the traffic light

when it is in normal position but if there is no light present the car will continue through the light

like it was not even there because it could not read that light. This could cause major accidents

and more than likely more deaths than the manufactures would like to say. The last thing that I

want to touch on would be detours on the road. The car is programed to follow a certain path and

if there is a detour the car will not know and proceed on the path it knows. This can be dangerous

to the construction workers or anything in the detour zone. The only fix to that would be to have

the system constantly updating but even then there is a big gap for error because detours can go

up or come down within hours.

Driverless vehicles pose a complication on todays automobiles. We can see that there are

many benefits to the driverless vehicles, but with benefits come problems. The driverless

vehicles can tack on a good bit of money just to have an okay source of transportation. The

vehicles are said to be safer than human driving but problems like no lines on the road or

swaying traffic lights are something that humans can see and react to better than a machine.

Ideally, driverless vehicles and human drivers should combine. Neither are perfect on their own

but together they could be almost perfect. There are things humans can do that technology cannot

and vice versa. Driverless cars are a good idea but would be a better idea with the help of a

human in the car.

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Work Cited

Samuelson, Robert J. "Hackers Behind the Wheel." Washington Post, 25 Sep, 2017, pp.

A.21, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

Filler, Lane. "Why are we Scared of Self-Driving Cars?" Newsday, 08 Mar, 2017, SIRS Issues

Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

Hoffa, James P. "Drivers Wanted." Technology review, 2017, pp. 10, SIRS Issues

Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

DuBravac, Shawn. "With Self-Driving Cars, the Future is Now."SIRS Issues Researcher, 09 Jan,

2017, https://sks.sirs.com.