Driverless Cars: How Will They Affect the Economy? With driverless cars becoming more and more of a possibility in the near future, it has brought up questions about how it will affect our economy, as well as the jobs of the public. Uber drivers, truck drivers, cab drivers’ jobs are at risk along with the companies that provide them. Many industries may also be affected. There are an approximate “1.8 million heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the U.S. earning a median income of $40,260 per year” (Bureau of Labor Statistics). 1.8 million people may seem like a small number compared to the 318.9 million individuals living in the U.S., but it will have a large effect on those drivers when they have to find a new job to support themselves …show more content…
In an article that appeared on CNBC.com, “According to the 2014 Census data, there are more than 4.4 million Americans aged 16 and over working as drivers, and the vast majority of those are men are categorized as "driver/sales workers and truck drivers" (Fahey). Uber is a company that has many drivers working for them out of the 4.4 million and it is at stake if driverless cars are going to play a part of the future. "’The reason Uber could be expensive is because you're not just paying for the car — you're paying for the other dude in the car," says Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’” (Fahey). If you were to take the Uber driver out of the picture since the car is driverless, the cost of the ride would go down because you would only have to pay for yourself and not the one driving you as well. This change would cause Uber to lose half of their income due to receiving half of what they would usually make before driverless vehicles were in the picture. Another negative outcome of driverless cars is that some police officers may be laid off because there’s no need for a lot of them if these cars won’t be speeding or drunk driving. But fortunately, there will be fewer
While many people are all about autonomous cars and the benefits that they will bring to society, there are people who oppose driver less cars. Google has faced major censure from critics that are uneasy with the method that the automobile will u...
Are driverless cars really needed in today's society? Many people and big businesses think so. Going on a road trip? click a button, sit back relax and wait until you arrive at your destination. Many, however, are skeptical of these driverless cars, Both sides have very good reasons for their beliefs but most people believe this is going to give the government too much control.
Driverless cars are becoming a very big subject in the U.S. Carmakers such as Volkswagen and General Motors are going to be selling driverless cars in no more than three to four years. Many states have passed the law for driverless cars, and many more states are considering( Tribune News Service). Yes driverless cars are cool and helpful, just think about the car accidents that have happened. Driverless cars are just unsafe and unpredictable.
Driverless Cars Vs Auto Insurance New technology emerges every day in today’s world of computers and innovation. While new technology has the ability to make life easier for consumers it can also cause harm to some traditional industries. One of the industries that are currently in danger of becoming extinct is the auto insurance industry. With the development of new self-driving cars this puts auto insurers in danger of becoming obsolete if they do not adapt to the changes that are already beginning in the auto industry.
If there were no drivers, there would be no profits, and if drivers found other more favourable ways to make income, Uber would be affected drastically. This is an impactful flaw in Uber’s design. Drivers will often be dissatisfied due to no real employer-employee relationship due to only contract employment, lack of communication, and extremely minimal room for drivers to advance in rank or professionally develop.
You are programming a driverless car for may involve a moral dilemma. If a foreseeable situation of killing 5 children or avoiding all of them and you autonomous car is programmed to kill you instead as the course of least harm then the liability question is, who – or what is responsible?
Even though many believe driverless cars are both difficult to implement and potentially dangerous, humans are the underlying cause of both traffic-related incidents and fatalities; autonomous vehicles will operate without the weaknesses of humanity, thus significantly increasing safety. Smillie points out, “Crashes killed nearly 33,000 people in the United States and 1.25 million worldwide in 2013, and human error caused almost all of them. Cars that move by algorithm can communicate directly with one another and don’t fall asleep, get distracted by text messages or drink too much.” The fact that humans are being slaughtered annually within transportation is truly barbarous, especially when the technology needed to prevent such atrocities already exists; these technologies must be rapidly integrated into society.
Driverless cars are dangerous and should not be on the roads because people say that it will be safer to drive and it will not kill anyone. I disagree it will kill people and you will have to be more safe drive it.
In the future driverless cars will save big amounts of money when it comes to accidents. According to the report of NHTSA, “In 2010, there were 32,999 people killed, 3.9 million were injured, and 24 million vehicles were damaged in motor vehicle crashes in the United States. The economic costs of these crashes totaled $242 billion.” This is a huge amount of money that can create a positive impact on America’s economy. Some argue that driverless cars will take the jobs of taxi and truck drivers that will ultimately affect the US economy. This is not true because this a transition period, and the jobs will shift from one position to another but will not vanish. Overall the driverless cars are good for the
Self-driving cars are the wave of the future. There is much debate regarding the impact a self-driving car will have on our society and economy. Some experts believe fully autonomous vehicles will be on the road in the next 5-10 years (Anderson). This means a vehicle will be able to drive on the road without a driver or any passengers. Like any groundbreaking technology, there is a fear of the unforeseen problems. Therefore, there will need to be extensive testing before anyone can feel safe with a vehicle of this style on the road. It will also take time for this type of technology to become financially accessible to the masses, but again alike any technology with time it should be possible. Once the safety concern has been fully addressed
Inventors hope to help people with autonomous cars because “autonomous cars can do things that human drivers can’t” (qtd. in “Making Robot Cars More Human). One of the advantages that driverless cars have is that “They can see through fog or other inclement weather, and sense a stalled car or other hazard ahead and take appropriate action” (qtd. in “Making Robot Cars More Human). Harsh weather conditions make it difficult and dangerous for people to drive, however, the car’s ability to drive through inclement weather “frees the user’s time, creates opportunities for individuals with less mobility, and increases overall road safety” (Bose 1326). With all the technology and software in the car, it can “improve road traffic system[s] and reduces road accidents” (Kumar). One of the purposes for creating the driverless car was to help “make lives easier for senior citizens, people with disabilities, people who are ill, or people who are under influence of alcohol” (Kumar). It can be frightening to know that that we share share our roads with drivers that could potentially endanger our lives as well as other people’s lives. How can people not feel a sense of worry when “cars kill roughly 32,000 people a year in the U.S.” (Fisher 60)? Drivers who text while driving or drink and drive greatly impact the safety of other people, and Google hopes to reduces the risk of accidents and save lives with the
number of active vehicles on the streets and the growth of vehicles for the sole purpose of providing for-hire transportation, which will inherently require longer than average vehicle miles, have been a concern for policymakers who seek to improve air quality, reduce pollution, and combat global climate change. Recent epidemiological studies have also shown elevated risks of non-allergic respiratory morbidity, cardiovascular morbidity, cancer, allergies, adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, and diminished male fertility for drivers, commuters, and individuals living near roadways. The lack of sufficient data to correctly measure the impact of the expansion rate of Uber and other TNCs in many cities has exacerbated the problem. These companies
Essentially, driverless cars can cause major safety issues, and relying on them is not always the best option. Currently the maps for Google’s self driving cars have only been designed to handle only a few thousand miles of road. This reduces the chances of going on a car trip across the country without having to actually drive the car. It would be an inconvenience to the owners of driverless cars to be limited to only a certain area, unlike normal cars. Developing a nationwide self driving car system would require countless amounts of effort and money. This means that in order to make driverless cars a future, it would have to be at the great cost of the producers of them. All this work would probably never stop, due to the fact that in major cities, because of the population expanding homes are constantly being built and new roads are being made. To make the navigation system in the driverless car fully work, a company would have to maintain and update data on millions of miles of roads. For example if a new area in a city hasn’t been mapped yet, a driverless car may get confused and fail to work. People would rather have cars that they know will work well and be worth their
I will argue that due to Uber’s previous improprieties they should not be the company to disrupt the transportation industry through the implementation of erroneous autonomous vehicles alongside human drivers. Ms. Cole’s story foreshadows an era where perfectly programmed autonomous cars clash with human error in a contest between pre-programmed and unprogrammable contingencies. Although the implementation of autonomous vehicles are supposed to make the roads safer, the reality is that human drivers have an advantage that robots and sensors do not: the ability to predict human behavior. The peer-reviewed journal article, An autonomous driverless car: an idea to overcome the urban road challenges published in the Journal of information Engineering and Applications by Sheetal Ds Rathod of Amaravati University defines an autonomous vehicle as “a passenger vehicle that drives by itself” (Rathod). Autonomous vehicles function by using an array of laser sensors, cameras, radar, ultrasonic sensors, and GPS to help the car determine where it is in relation to the road and the other cars around it.
However, driverless cars should be tested more due to the lack of knowledge because of growing concerns around hacking, lack of confidence for the driver and the job and economic boost it could implode. The engineering that goes into a driverless car covers all areas of mechanics, computing software and so on, which still tends to frighten some drivers of its monstrosity on the inside. In the article “Google Cars Becoming Safer: Let the Robots Drive” it states that, “The economic lift from ridding the roads of human-driven vehicles would be over $190 billion per year. That would primarily come from reducing property damage caused by low-speed collisions”(Salkever).