This round I will be looking at: What are the benefits of self driving cars, how do they impact the world in a good way and when can we expect them to be implemented?
My last research round was: what are the ethical problem associated with self driving cars?
The benefits:
I chose to look at the benefits because last research round I looked at all the problems with it, and it was all pretty negative. I know that there are many reasons that self driving cars could be beneficial, so I wanted to take a look at that.
A while ago I posted a survey that some of you may remember. I also a question that could be used for this round, so I figured there was no need to create a new survey. I asked people what they thought personally would be the benefits to self driving cars. These are the answers that I got:
I found some of these extremely interesting, and they are full of good points. I particularly took an interest I the one that mentioned the reduced risk of drunk driving and the one that mentioned increasing accessibility for people with physical and mental disabilities.
I found an article online that explained how many people with disabilities have been offered to use paratransit services. Paratransit services is like a shuttle or a taxi provided by the government to help people with mental and physical disabilities get around. The people can make reservations in advance for the paratransit service to pick them up. Though the government is forced to provide this, it is very costly. In order to "solve the problem", they have made the areas in which paratransit operates smaller and have asked people with disabilities to take mass transit instead if possible.
I never thought about how it feels to have disabilities and have to take mass transit, especially since busses and sky trains can get super busy. It would be uncomfortable for anyone with mental or physical disabilities to be on a crowded ride for long. It's even uncomfortable for people with no disabilities!
I found another article written by Srin Madipalli, a man who has been in a wheelchair for almost his whole life. He really gave me a new perspective on how hard it is to get around when you are disabled. He told his story about being stuck in the rain for a very long time, and then stuck in his office for hours. I really never knew that it was such a problem!
Another thing that I noticed was that there were a few people who said that self driving cars may reduce the amount of car accidents that happen. I found this to be true. The McKinsey report states that car accidents will be reduced by 90%, and 190 billion dollars would be saved (in the USA).
When?
We can expect self driving cars to be implemented pretty soon. It is estimated that in 2020 consumers will slowly start to buy self driving cars. By 2030 it is estimated that insurance companies will develop a plan for self driving cars, after sale services will be reshaped, and supply chains and logistics will be redefined. By 2050, it is estimated that self driving cars will be the primary mode of transportation. All of this information is provided in the picture below:
My opinion:
The benefits:
I personally do not agree with the fact that self driving cars would free up a lot of time for people. Many people say that if you didn't have to drive, you could work in the car, but realistically, who would work on their way to work? Since most jobs are based off of hours you spend at work rather than how much work you get done, so I do not see the benefit in doing work in the car. That only works if you are paid according to how many things you get done in a day.
However, I believe that it still would be very beneficial, because it would make life easier for parents. They could just send the car to pick up their kids, or the kids could "drive themselves" to school. I would be very convenient.
When:
I think that 2020 is a bit to early for people to start using self driving cars because there are still so many problems with the cars. I feel that they need to be perfected before we deliver it to consumers, but that's just my opinion.
Thank you for reading my new post, and any feedback is welcome whether it's opinionated or fact based. Thanks!
https://theconversation.com/ar...isabled-people-84037
https://medium.com/s/story/dea...-people-9c8d7c3ccffe
https://www.geekwire.com/2015/...ment-of-the-century/