Driverless Cars Heading Mainstream

Autonomous cars, also known as driverless cars, are quickly becoming a mainstream interest for Americans. Google and Mobileye are currently some of the main players in developing the driverless technology, which will allow a vehicle to fully navigate without human input. Although driverless cars are often regarded as niche technology that looks good on paper but might not garner enough attention from the public, public data proves otherwise.

A national survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 48% of Americans were interested in riding in driverless cars. More than 50% of urban and suburban residents showed interest. Plus, 59% of college graduates were especially intrigued with driverless tech. Couple this consumer appeal with the rate that technology is improving, driverless cars are expected to go mainstream sooner than later.

There are many obstacles that the industry has to face in order to bring driverless cars out in the roads. One major problem is making the cars legal in all states, as they are currently legal in only five states: California, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, and Nevada. Another issue for concern is determining who is held responsible for a driverless vehicle that gets in an accident.

However, accidents are so rare that it really is not an issue. Google’s self-driving cars have logged more than 300,000 accident-free miles across a wide variety of traffic situations. The only reported incidents involving Google’s driverless cars were caused by human error. In 2010, a Google car was rear-ended at a traffic light by a human-operated car. In 2011, another Google driverless car was involved in an accident, but the car was being operated by a human at the time of the accident.

Experts in the industry are saying that by 2020, cars will automatically handle the bulk of the work when traveling at high speeds. Five years after that, we may finally see driverless cars emerge “in meaningful numbers.”

Sources:

Graziano, Dan. “Driverless Cars Expected to Go Mainstream by 2025.” BGR. BGR Media, LLC, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Yarow, Jay. “Human Driver Crashes Google’s Self Driving Car.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 05 Aug. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.

Markoff, John. “Google Cars Drive Themselves, in Traffic.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 Oct. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Smith, Aaron. “U.S. Views of Technology and the Future.” Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center, 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Sun, Leo. “Half of Americans Would Try This Technology (And Companies Are Spending Billions on It).” The Motley Fool. The Motley Fool, 15 Feb. 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.