On May 7th, 2016, Joshua Brown became the first casualty of an autonomous car crash. Many other automobile accidents occurred that day, and some of those accidents also resulted in death. Mr. Brown’s accident gathered widespread attention because the autonomous car he was riding in failed, while in autopilot mode, to identify a transport truck crossing the highway and the result was a tragedy. This incident serves as a warning that automation only makes us more safe if we remain engaged in the task of driving. The National Safety Council believes that there is a road to zero deaths and this road involves automation of driver functions (NSC, n.d.), but what is our responsibility as drivers in this time of increasing automation?
In 1938, Gibson
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This effort is not a solution or a definition of the actual problem. Despite this heavy focus, on the danger of using a phone while driving, it remains quite common. This is because we as drivers have included our phones, and the tasks we can accomplish with them, into our decision matrix while driving. The various tasks that we can work on, due to the capability of smartphones, adds a level of reward to the risks we must weigh in our decision whether to focus on driving or to entertain …show more content…
(www.iihs.org., n.d.) This approach to driver safety also fails to address the source of our distraction and instead appears to have accepted that we will be focusing on tasks other than driving and therefore systems must be integrated into our perception process to correct the errors therein. For instance, adaptive cruise control slows the car to the speed of the car in front of us so that our reaction time is extended indefinitely. Blind spot monitoring allows us to change lanes without a shoulder check and some cars now alert the driver when drowsy behavior is detected. There may be truth in this theory but as Gibson and Crooks stated our perception of the risk and reward will change minute to minute considering the perceived risk which includes technological aids. One could easily argue that because we now have cars which can monitor the dangers around us we have adapted our driving style to accept more distraction and therefore we are no more safe in a new car than in a car from
Have you ever feared that your loved one or even someone very close to you will be involved in a fatal car accident every time they left the house? Drunk driving is a factor in nearly one-third of all fatal accidents. Even if you aren’t the one driving, you are still at risk any moment to get involved in an accident that could’ve been prevented. By legalizing fully self-driving cars, we won’t have to fear the pain of losing a loved one. We could have a quick fix to all of this madness easily. The number of traffic accidents are soaring at 1.3 million deaths a year. Drunk Driving is still one of the number one causes of vehicle deaths; therefore, the government should allow self-driving cars to become legal to combat the issue. If we don’t act now to combat this issue we will have to deal with the consequences it will bring.
According to Stephanie Hanes in the essay “Texting While Driving Is as Dangerous as Drunk Driving,” a driver on a phone and those talking on a phone are four times likely to crash. This statistic shows how dangerous using the phone or even texting is while driving. As technology has increased, so has the use of cellphone. Distracted driving has caused an increase in car fatalities and disasters. However, distracted driving can be prevented if drivers take precautions, but no matter what we do, trouble will always be spelling on the road.
Most people think of someone using their cell phone while driving when they hear distracted driving, but it it much more than that. Distracted driving is when someone who is behind the wheel get distracted by either taking their hands off the wheel or take their mind of driving, which can cause them to get into an accident (paragraph 2). Distracted driving is broken down into three main parts, manual distractions which is taking your hands off the steering wheel, visual distractions which is taking your center of attention off the road and cognitive distraction which is when your mind is not focused on driving and just starts drifting away (paragraph 3). Cell phone use is easily the biggest cause of distracted driving compared to eating, talking, and others because using your cell phone requires visual, manual and cognitive attention from the person behind the wheel and in a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the amount of people who break the law and use a handheld device behind the wheel increases every single year. An estimated amount of more than, six hundred thousand people use their phone while driving. Distracted driving has quickly risen and developed in the past few years and is becoming an enormous problem. In a recent study, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), showed statistics of approximately three thousand, one hundred fifty
One reason driverless cars should replace human drivers is because they are safer and offer a comprehensive solution to a problem that plagues the entire world – automobile accidents. Currently, according to Ryan C. C. Chin, around 1.2 million deaths occur worldwide each year due to automotive accidents (1) and in the U.S. alone “more than 37,000 people died in car accidents in 2008, 90% of which died from human mistake” (Markoff 2). Most of these accidents involving human error are caused by fatigued, inattentive, or intoxicated drivers. However, according to Sergey Brin’s the Pros and...
...ailable provide much more protection than harm to humans. Automotive makers should continue to offer safe features and advance the possibilities of a collision-free future as much as possible. Attention must also be turned to the potential harm new features could cause. Safety features should be a precaution, or safety net, to true accidents that happen. They should not continue to replace bad driving habits that are abundant in our country. By allowing computer technology to provide an instant fix to human error, the error itself is never corrected. When involving something as deadly as vehicle accidents, fixing the error is just as, if not more, critical as providing a safety net. The ninth commandment: thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing. How far will vehicle safety go until computers are driving the car for us?
Autopilot, the self-driving feature in the new Tesla car, is a controversial subject because it puts the car’s computer in control of all driving responsibilities. To activate this autonomous mode, all the driver has to do is push a button and the computer has full control of the vehicle. The sole responsibility of the driver is to pay close attention to the way the car brakes, steers, and accelerates, while in autopilot mode. Amazingly, there has only been one known fatality involving a Tesla vehicle while driving in autopilot. In an article written by Jordan Golson and published by The Verge, this first fatality in a Tesla vehicle driving in autopilot is covered with great detail.
...ture a risk-taking species. In ancient times we took risks just to eat. Later we took huge risks by setting out in little wooden ships to explore the earth's surface. We continued as we sought to fly, travel faster than the speed of sound and to head off into space. We rely on increasingly more complex equipment and constantly strive to design and manufacture faster and even more elaborate devices. It goes without saying that every effort is made to ensure our "safety"; to keep us from harm or danger. Every time you slide behind the wheel of your vehicle you are taking a risk. Driving is the riskiest activity in our lives. It is an inherently "unsafe" environment. The most perfect vehicles on the best designed highways on beautiful sunny days driven by fallible human beings crash into each other. The only way to drive "safely" (as we are all admonished to do!) is to learn more about the process. Learn more about your vehicle and how to maintain it; learn how to use your eyes to look far down the road; learn to spot problems before they happen; and also learn to deal with emergency situations. In most cases it's the human element that fails. After all, safe is only as safe does.
Moreover, accidents could not only happen because persons fail to override the system when they should have, but also because people override it when there really was no danger of the system causing an accident (Douma & Palodichuk, 2012). As the level of sophistication of autonomous cars improves, the possibility of interventions by the driver might cause more accidents than it helps to avoid. But even assuming such intervention was possible, if the person in question were sufficiently focussed, one might still question if people would be able to keep up the necessary attention over longer periods of time. Fully autonomous vehicles will only be market-ready (we assumed) once they drive more safely than the average human driver does. Of course, a driver may be aware of and responsible for his level of alertness.
It is evident that these innovations decrease upon the number of car crashes, however, one can ponder upon the limitations of this benefit. In fact, Patrick Lin, an author of the book “Why Ethics Matters for Autonomous Cars,” explored an interesting scenario that revealed the ethical issues related to self-driving cars. He states that, “Imagine in some distant future, your autonomous car encounters this terrible choice: it must either swerve left and strike an eight-year old girl or swerve right and strike an 80-year old grandmother” (Lin, 2016). The car has three choices, hit the child, elderly woman, or hit both. One may say that it would be more justifiable to hit the elderly woman because she has lived a full life.
According to Lauren Keating, the 2014 estimate of motor vehicle fatalities reported by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is an estimated 32,675 people died in car crashes (n.p.). In Keating's research, the Eno Center for Transportation believes in finding driver error is the main reason behind over 90 percent of all crashes, with drunk driving, distracted drivers, failure to remain in one lane, and failing to yield the right of way being the main causes (n.p.). Because the majority of these accidents is caused by human error, self-driving cars take away these human errors by taking away human control thus potentially reducing the rate of automobile-related death. Autonomous cars use modern technology to make the roads
Corporations fear that they could be faced with an excess of lawsuits if driverless cars go commercial before they are as safe as possible. While it is good that they focus on improving safety before release, how safe do they need to be? Up to 90% of accidents are due to or are partially caused by driver error (Smith). Schellekens’ article points out that “The standard ‘as safe as a human driven car’ could be made more precise in the following ways: The automated car should statistically be safer than human drivers, or the automated car should be safer than the best human driver.” Since driver error is so common, the first would be an improvement and could still save many lives just by preventing a few drunk or distracted driving accidents and statistically, some self-driving cars are already safer than the average driver.
Driving and using a phone is a psychological diversion and it is as impaired as driving affected by drugs or alcohol. These present generations have all ended up being dependent on our telephones. Cell phones make our lives less difficult from various perspectives, and we can check our email, make phone calls, send text messages, play music and go on social media, all promptly accessible at the palm of our hands and our fingertips. With this comfort, in any case, there is a downside to cell phones, and that is the time we decided to make a conscious decision to use them while driving. Most of us are guilty of using cell phones while driving, anyway have we anytime thought about its risk?
These technologies have made driving an easier and enjoyable experience, as well as reducing our chances of getting into accidents. The research presented in the following article “Driven to Distraction [in car technology]” provided surprising conclusions. Professor John D. Lee from the University of Iowa states the following issue: “Technology is changing very quickly. Many of these things coming into the car were not designed to be used in it. ”(Edwards 8).
Automotive executives touting self-driving cars as a way to make commuting more productive or relaxing may want to consider another potential marketing pitch: safety (Hirschauge, 2016). The biggest reason why these cars will make a safer world is that accident rates will enormously drop. There is a lot of bad behavior a driver exhibit behind the wheel, and a computer is actually an ideal motorist. Since 81 percent of car crashes are the result of human error, computers would take a lot of danger out of the equation entirely. Also, some of the major causes of accidents are drivers who become ill at the time of driving. Some of the examples of this would be a seizure, heart attack, diabetic reactions, fainting, and high or low blood pressure. Autonomous cars will surely remedy these types of occurrences making us
Over the last few decades, the use of cell phones has become a very common tool. Furthermore, Technology has certainly advanced, and the cell phone is becoming the most preferred mode of communication. The demand for a cell phone is growing every day. In addition, the use of wireless technology is affordable, and anyone can buy a cell phone at a reasonable price. They come in all shapes and sizes. They range from black to bright metallic white. American public use of cell phones is increasing everyday. As the number of people using cell phones increase, the use of cell phones while driving will also increase on our streets and highways. At the same rate, motorists still converse on cell phones and write text messages while driving. Motorist will also engage in other activities apart from driving. For example, drivers will text when driving, and they will dial numbers. Drivers will receive calls and converse with the recipient for long periods. Again, driving demands your full attention, and your concentration needed when talking on the phone. However, it means that the driver has to divert his attention to the conversation, which leads to less concentration on the road. On the contrary, one can therefore connect motorist’s accidents and cell phone usage while driving.