The auto industry is gearing up for the latest trend with the gradual introduction of autonomous cars worldwide. People around are looking forward to the new era of self driving cars. Several major companies are putting out dates for the launch of their electric vehicles, and universally this excitement persists, for all the marvels that these driverless cars will bring along.

Pros and Cons of Driverless Cars

With various testings and technological advancements of the car models introduced in the market, the UAE is also preparing itself for the latest drive on autonomous vehicles.

But how beneficial is the self-driving car? Along with the various perks of an autonomous car, with technology, there is also the adversity of loss of human control on the road.

Following are the Pros and Cons of a Self Driving Cars:

Pros 

• Increased Road Safety

Imagine the number of accidents that will reduce with driverless cars monopolising the road. Road accident statistics tell us that human errors while driving has a significant contribution to the accidents that occur daily. Here human error signifies any act or failure caused due to negligence of the person behind the wheels. This includes drink-driving, miscalculations and wrong driving judgements, crossing speed beyond recommended limits, attention to phones and other distractions while driving. These irresponsible and manual mistakes cumulatively result in damages extending to loss of lives.

With self-driving cars, we’ll have the computers, sensors and servomechanisms to take over the roads. A  fully autonomous car will thus remove the driver from the equation, reducing the scope of errors and simultaneously bring down the resulting accidents.

• Economic Advantages

The economic benefits will turn out notable when the driverless cars would be fully integrated into our transportation system. The highest significance would be on the massive reduction in medical aids and fatalities resulting from reckless and irresponsible public driving behaviour.

The overall human expenditure on insurances and medical treatments will reduce with the number of fatalities and deaths decreasing as a result of fewer accidents by driverless cars.

• Space for Human Productivity

Just consider the amount of space and time you’ll get riding on a driverless car. Without the steering’s responsibility, you’ll have all the extra time entirely for yourself to utilise, in whichever way suits best for your needs. Use the extra space for juggling between and completing office work like finishing your presentation,  planning your day, schedule calls, return to your book, take a quick nap, or continue with your latest binge-watch.

• Dispensed Traffic Crowding 

Much of the traffic congestion and overcrowding is a result of human discrepancies like not following traffic rules, driving protocols, lousy judgement and overruling proper vehicle guidelines. When one rides a self-driving car, these controls are overtaken by the autonomous car module. 

• Making Lives Better

Autonomous vehicles have been gradually taking up a significant part of the daily commute in the form of electric buses and trains. Here, the autonomous cars operate following driving guidelines and proper sensor detections that will eventually make the life of everyone around better. This will come with reduced congestion, less parking space problems, freedom for the elderly and disabled with the independence they’ll get to put their vehicle to best use, and the ease of timely pick and drop.

Cons

• Vehicle Price

A lot of time, technology and money are invested in building a driverless car. The complete autonomous vehicle operating with radars, sensors and ion batteries will have an altogether different build and design compared to the regular models. Adding these to its rolling on the technological front, there is absolutely no doubt to the fact that electric vehicles, whenever released in the market, will come with an astronomically high price tag, not affordable to all. Counting on the limitations of a fully-automated car, it also includes the reservations of its sustainability for long rides, car repairs and servicing needs.

• Assurance to Human Safety

However, modern the technology used, we can estimate the minutest errors that the driverless car would have. But can it be levelled to how sensitive the failure would cost when it is on the road? Human errors while driving account to more than a million deaths all around the globe. The technology precision needs to be on the largest scale to guarantee safety and assurance that its intelligence can manage unseen instances like a sudden parking or a human crossing the wrong way. The doubt arises with how the autonomous car would manage a ride alongside a human driver and managing associated risks. 

• Missing being ‘behind-the-wheels’

Self driving cars, although meant to solve numerous problems for the common man, adds difficulty for the same human who loves the feel of steering along on the road. This dilemma leaves behind the overall enjoyment of driving without human control. These autonomous cars would come as a disappointment to the many who consider driving an engaging and recreational activity. 

• Loss of jobs

Fully integration of the driverless cars is convinced to harm the professional drivers who earn their living with their driver’s jobs. If these vehicles are adopted across industries, there will be an impact on the transportation trucks and other vehicles used for the tasks. This automation is sure to put the drivers in search of new jobs, resulting in a strain on the economic front. 

• Criminal Activity/Hacking Risks

Having the driverless car will trail along  the risk of illegal and criminal activities that involve hacking the computer systems that run the self driving car. These risks also include the potential risk of reprogramming or cutting into the system and hampering user’s data and private access.

Several implications still swing on uncertainty until the electric vehicles are entirely launched and used in circulation on the roads. The UAE is already gearing up for self drive cars in Dubai. So while the time comes, we can enjoy our self-rides adhering meticulously to the traffic rules and regulations.

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