Should Self-driving Cars be Regulated? Western Kentucky University, Gordon Ford College of Business CIS 205 “Technology in Society and Business” Dr. Ciampa April 4th, 2024 The Issue Self-driving cars were once the stuff of science fiction but with current developments in tech we are now able to produce a car that can drive itself. The implications of these vehicles are vast. They offer the potential to create safer roads because self-driving vehicles can help prevent crashes and other driving accidents. Autonomous freight trucks could revolutionize logistics as we know it and drive down the price of goods. But with the advent of many similar innovations, we are now faced with the question of regularity and legal restrictions. There are many …show more content…
In the pro-regularity corner, proponents argue that without guidance from lawmakers, self-driving cars would lack standardization, clear rules on fault in cases of accidents involving these kinds of vehicles and that consumers won’t feel they are safe in these cars unless regulation is passed. In the other corner, those who think that we should use a more laissez-faire perspective of this emerging market make the point that intense regulation could hinder future innovation while simultaneously generating suspicion among an already apprehensive public at large and could create a market dominated by big companies with newcomers shut out by over-legislation. However, in accordance with the attitude of the author, this paper will make the previous argument. In order to instill consumer trust in the autonomous vehicle industry, it is imperative to regulate self-driving cars with the same rigor applied to conventional automobiles, ensuring the implementation of essential safety measures. The driverless car industry is very new, with many of those who make up the target demographic lacking the basic understanding of how all this works. The first robo-car was produced by …show more content…
On the other hand, without some regulations or rules, the industry could run wild, potentially producing unsafe vehicles which aren’t suitable for the roads. Standardization of safety protocols and methods would go a long way towards bolstering consumer confidence rather than hurting it. These are the arguments of those who are going to save us from countless disastrous pile-ups on the interstate. One of the largest issues preventing the widespread adoption of robot cars is the issues with insurance companies. Who is at fault in such an incident? As explored above, the general attitude of the public is that the manufacturer should be blamed, but as this is not yet enshrined in law it would be difficult for liabilities to actually be collected. The laws regarding such cases must be clearly defined before necessary insurance policies can become commonplace. Additionally, standardization being critical in any field where new and distrusted technologies are at play must be legally enforced. One reason people still don’t have positive views on nuclear power is because non-standard equipment like that used at Chernobyl can result in untold disasters since each plant in the Soviet Union at the time was of a unique and non-standard design. To prevent similar developments in self-driving cars, Congress, in cooperation with the President, must create good sense legislation not only to prevent disaster but to protect us all. Consumer
Who’s to blame when the vehicle gets in a severe car accident? Advances in technology, like self-driving cars, will be bad because it causes people to be lazy, it takes away the responsibility of the driver, it takes away the responsibility of the driver, and it can malfunction causing accidents.
Self-driving cars are now hitting a few roadways in America, and are showing people just a small glimpse into what could be the future of automobiles. Although Google’s self-driving cars are getting a lot of attention now, the idea of a self-driving car has been around for quite a while actually. These cars have been tested to their limits, but the American people have yet to adopt the technology into their everyday lives. A brief description of their history, how they work, and finally answer the question, will self-driving cars ever be adopted widely by the American public?
New types of technology are being introduced all of the time. One of the most recent pieces of technology is the self driving car, but it has a flaw. The technology in these cars can be dangerous.When companies began the testing stages the technology began to glitch and caused many problems on the road.If the technology glitches when on a busy street it could cause crashes. Driverless cars should not be allowed on the road until all or most of these problems are fixed.
Companies like Google, Tesla and Nissan, among others, have announced over the past few years that their companies are trying to develop self-driving or autonomous cars [Ref. 1 and 2]. Self-driving cars can provide many benefits to the average consumer. Studies have shown that because computers can react and process information many times faster than a human being, crashes on streets and roads can be decreased with quick and consistent evasion maneuvers by the autonomous car. They can also help maximize fuel economy by calculating the most direct and fastest routes. When the driving of an autonomous car demonstrates that the computer can safely and reliably transport the passengers to their destination, this frees up the passengers to do other things that they would not normally be able to do if they were driving the car manually. For this reason, self-driving cars can help maximize productivity of their passengers.
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...
If you need a way to make a product more appealing to consumers, make it self-operating. The most recognizable and popular one of these products may be the self-operating vacuum. Why take time out of your day to vacuum when you can have a little robot do it for you instead? That mindset is now being applied to pretty much everything now. The next thing up is the self-driving car. Why waste valuable time focusing on driving when you could instead be getting work done on your drive to work. It is true that self-driving cars come with positive and negative effects, but I believe that the positives outweigh the negatives.
Not long ago, when people talking about self-driving cars, most of them would feel that is far away from us. But today, we can see from news that many IT companies are already created their own self-driving technologies. Self-driving cars can use a variety of technologies, like GPS, radar, computer version, to avoid obstacle and explore surrounding environments. In order to drive safely, self-driving technologies include drifting warning, blind-spot detectors, enhanced cruise control and self-parking. The first self-driving technologies can be traced from 1980s, with Carnegie Mellon University in 1984. At present, companies which are developing self-driving cars include Apple, Google, Facebook, Uber, Volvo, Ford, Tesla, Baidu. Why do so many top companies want to develop self-driving
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
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). The point is that when driverless cars hit the road the cost of low-speed collision and save consumers money will be reduced. In the article “ Google Driverless Cars Run Into Problem: Cars With Drivers” Slakever states that “One Google car, in a test in 2009, couldn’t get through a four-way stop because its sensors kept waiting for other (human) drivers to stop completely and let it go. The human drivers kept inching forward, looking for the advantage — paralyzing Google’s robot”(Bosker). Current drivers have never followed the rule of the road, which have made the road more prone to any accident. Drivers have found the upper hand on not following traffic laws that makes manufacturing driverless car more meticulous to decrease accidents and breaking traffic laws. The fact that driverless car sensors can detect the errors of other human driven car is extraordinary. Human driven cars are trying to stick to the status quo of the roads when in reality human driven cars are breaking valuable innovation that will make the roads safe for generations to
Many automobile manufacturers are looking to start producing and releasing their first self-driving car. One development in the company recently is the self-driving technology. A self-driving Lexus undergoes testing on a highway in Tokyo. Investors and driver will be witnessing innovation and change in the automotive industry over the next two decades than what took place over the last century (Miller, Williams, & Rosevear, 2016). There is a lot of money being spent in this development.
Imagine a world in which all cars have no driver, instead, passengers recline and enjoy their trip, a world in which fatalities from car accidents have decreased greatly. Imagine this world becoming a reality. Self-driving cars have been facing quite a bit of controversy in the past few years. Companies such as Google, Uber, and Tesla are unwavering in their quest to test this new technology, but states are just beginning to allow self-driving cars on the road. Consequently, citizens are uncomfortable with driving on the same road as these ghost cars. Self-driving cars should be allowed on the road for many reasons: they continuously gain support from the government; they’re an inevitable advancement in automobile technology, and they are proving to be safer than manual cars; furthermore, they will probably become safer than manual cars.
Even though the transfer from human-driven cars to autonomous cars is happening slowly, the U. S. government is acting swiftly by “ask [ing] that all companies involved in self-driving cars, from software coders to car builders to sensor makers to taxi fleet operators, submit safety assessments covering 15 different criteria to the NHTSA” (Pull over, Robot!). However, a majority perceive self-driving cars as an advantage for federal intelligence agencies to pry into personal information (PRO/CON: Self-driving cars). Self-driving cars is a fairly new boundary that the world has uncovered, but people do not know how much the government can influence the car manufacturers; in this case, to help their efficiency in collecting private information and other activities. Nevertheless, it has been widely noted that self-driving cars have functions that surpass the functions of a normal car, using their sensors that are designed to operate more proficiently than humans (5 Things). As that may be an attractive idealization, Neal Boudette, bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, observed inside the test drive for an autonomous car that the car “slowed down unexpectedly at one point, momentarily confused by a dark area on the road ahead” (5 Things).
Thousands of people die every year in car accidents. Victims of car accidents sometimes have lifelong medical issues, increased insurance rates, and emotional traumas causing them to be afraid to drive again. If people are unable to drive, they could potentially have loss of income or loss of their jobs. Will self-driving cars help reduce car accidents? Do car accidents affect people’s car insurance premiums?
Advances in technology and infrastructure make artificial intelligence put into practical applications. At the moment, the most striking of the new technology is the auto-driving car. Does the wide spread of such products bring unexpected effects? The answer is yes, at least the two will appear first: self-driving cars will be rejected, buy these cars will become a "hateful appearance. " Before that, engineers can make vehicles safer, more efficient, and prove to regulators that they are safe to go.
Today’s laws do not adequately determine who would be at fault for such collisions, nor does it determine how much an individual or corporation should be liable for in case of an accident. In order for the industry to advance we as a society must determine what is acceptable ethically and then find a fair way of assessing penalties. There are two main issues that must be tackled in order to have adequate legal framework surrounding the issue of self-driving cars. The first is determining whether or not a self-driving car accident can be equated to the historical ethical paradox of the trolley problem. Once this question is answered it will be easier to determine how liability