If you are thinking about bringing a self-driving car home, or rather, having a self-driving car bring you home, you may want to reconsider your choices. While the world of self-driving cars has come a long way in the past decade, there is still a long winding road ahead before cars like this will become anything other than a novelty.
Road Conditions and Changing Signs
One large issue facing self-driving cars is both the condition of the roads and differing signs. The way a driverless car works is by using a camera to see lane markings which allow them to drive efficiently. However, because many American roads are deteriorating, these markings can be faded and hard for the camera to detect. Similarly, some roads are even completely unmarked, which can present a larger challenge to these vehicles when it comes to driving safely.
In a given year, there are more than 5,891,000 vehicle accidents in the United States, and unless road conditions are fixed, or self-driving cars are given a way to handle these conditions, it is unlikely that they will be either safe or successful on many roads.
At the same time, there is also the issue of signage. The United States lacks uniform signage along roads and even stoplights can differ between cities, with some having horizontal lights and other vertical lights. Although some pushing for self-driving technology are also pushing for more uniformity in these areas so that it is easier for the machines to read, the cost of this is extremely high and unlikely to be a priority given everything else the country is facing.
Pedestrians and Motorcycles
In Missouri alone, there were 136,901 motorcycles registered in 2018 and there are already a lot of motorcycle accidents in the U.S. even with people behind the wheel. The significance of this can be seen through the many ‘watch for motorcycle’ signs and stickers that adorn vehicles and signposts. However, given that people have enough trouble watching for smaller vehicles like motorcycles, it can be a hurdle for self-driving vehicles to do the same. This also extends to pedestrians, which can be difficult for these driverless cars to communicate with and see.
For example, if you pull up to a stop sign and pedestrians are waiting to cross the road, you can wave to them in order to allow them to pass and let them know that you see them. However, with no driver behind the wheel, this cannot be done. Because of this difficulty, one Swedish company dabbled with creating a ‘smiling car’, which would ‘smile’ using LEDs located in the front of the car, which would let pedestrians know it was safe to cross.
While this may seem like a solution, once again, it requires a lot of trust in the vehicle, which many people may be unwilling to do, especially if they are crossing the street with young children. This also doesn’t take into account the fact that technology can malfunction, leading to potential accidents involving pedestrians and bikers.
Car Hacking
Speaking of malfunctions, technology-dependent cars also have a huge vulnerability to hackers. A remote attack even caused a Tesla TSLA to suddenly slow and make a sharp turn off of the main road, causing the driver to have to switch to manual driving mode. Although this incident took place two years ago in 2019, it highlights just how significant potential hacking can be if self-driving technology becomes more standard.
Consider if you were on your way home in a self-driving car only to end up having it veer suddenly off the road. This can cause significant harm to you and potentially to pedestrians and other drivers, all because a hacker managed to infiltrate your car’s systems. As energy use doubles every 20 years and more and more of our daily lives are connected by technology, cyber security is becoming increasingly important for all industries and it should be considered when thinking about investing in driverless car technology.
Overall, self-driving cars are still a long way away from becoming the norm on American streets. While the technology itself is impressive and tantalizing, it can be dangerous and every safety precaution needs to be carefully thought out to ensure that, once it does become the norm, that it will keep everyone on the road safe.