Thoughts on Autonomous Cars

ROAD SAFETY ARTICLE

Since the heavens started pouring its blessings on residents of the Federal Capital Territory, as well as other parts of the country, I have  on several occasions pondered on my usual guide during the rainy seasons. However, while I was contemplating another piece on driving during the rains, the thought of sharing a piece I stumbled on crossed my mind. I was fortunate to see a beautifully crafted piece by Simone Pettigrew, a Professor of Psychology on driverless cars and thought it would make for good reading if I shared the piece which I must confess was culled and published the way she crafted it without attempting to rephrase or paraphrase any portion of the write-up.

I do hope you will spare time to read through and join the bandwagon as we await the full operation of driverless cars  which  are vehicles that are self-driving and able to navigate the environment without requiring a human. They are also referred to as autonomous cars, robotic cars, and self-driving cars .Driverless cars promise many benefits for the future of driving including health and safety benefits, especially  an improvement in safety. The deployment of this technology is projected to reduce the number of accidents that occur on roadways.

The projection is that driverless cars will no longer be subject to the numerous bad behaviors that human driver’s exhibit. Currently, over 80 percent of road traffic crashes are attributable to human error. In contrast, once assuming the driver’s seat, there would be fewer road rage incidents as well as reduce or no insurance costs that are associated with damage among and several other benefits that could reduce overall driving times.

There are numerous other benefits which I hope I will have time to share on this page. While we await that time, I do not know what your thoughts are about driverless cars. Do you have reservations about this new wave of travelling experience? Are you aware that research findings show there are people who are still not aware of possible benefits? That is why I have today chosen to share a publication from the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. I am sure you will be amazed to know that almost two thirds (63%) of the 1,624 people surveyed had neutral or negative attitudes towards driverless cars.  Strangely men were more positive than women about driverless cars. There was some but little change in response depending on the age of people surveyed.Please enjoy the findings as I also did.

Interestingly, more non-drivers (46%) than drivers (37%) had a positive response to driverless cars (though drivers represented the majority (96%) of the total people surveyed). When asked to explain their feelings, very few people surveyed appeared to be aware of the substantial social benefits that may be the likely outcomes of the wide-scale use of autonomous vehicles.

Some (21%) thought there would be fewer crashes, but others (13%) predicted more accidents on our roads. Virtually no-one mentioned increased mobility for the elderly and disabled, emission reduction or stress reduction. Not a single respondent reported that cyclists would be safer.

The driverless future -Yet driverless cars are coming, and they’re going to change our lives. For some of us, the changes will be enormous and liberating. Once fully implemented, autonomous vehicles are projected to prevent more than 1,000 deaths and 30,000 hospitalizations each year in Australia and save the economy more than A$16 billion a year in crash-related costs alone.

But their effects will be much greater than just preventing accidents. Autonomous vehicles have the potential to greatly reduce traffic emissions, cyclists will likely be safer once cars can carefully monitor their movements, road rage will be less likely, and those who can’t drive will have unprecedented freedom to move around.

We are fascinated by these new forms of technology, and a bit terrified as well. The few accidents to date have received massive coverage, despite more than 1.25(1.35 as at 2022) million people dying on the roads globally each year with little notice.

But how much do we think about the positive aspects of a world where cars (and potentially buses) come to us and deliver us to our destinations while we work, rest, or play during transit?

Attitudes change with information-The picture looks very different when people are invited to contemplate the likelihood of specific social benefits of driverless cars. In the same survey, we found people’s attitudes changed once they were asked to consider the various positive outcomes, and were prompted with specific examples.

Around half of the respondents then agreed autonomous vehicles are likely to result in fewer accidents, reduced stress levels while in transit, lower emissions, and greater safety for cyclists. Of note is that the figure was much higher for belief in the benefits for the elderly and disabled. Almost three-quarters of respondents agreed enhanced mobility for these groups was a likely outcome.

This high level of prompted understanding of the benefits of driverless cars for older people is important for countries, such as Australia, that have rapidly ageing populations. As more of us are unable to hold a license due to the effects of ageing on our vision and cognitive faculties, vehicle autonomy is arriving just in time.

Staying socially connected is a vital part of healthy ageing. Becoming isolated and dependent in later life is associated with greater illness and a shorter lifespan. This illustrates maintaining our ability to get ourselves out and about through the use of driverless cars could be a massive boon to older generations. Of course those with vision impairments and other disabilities that prevent driving may benefit hugely from being able to independently control their own transport. Driverless cars can help those not able to drive.