Essay Sample on Driverless Cars: Autonomous Vehicles of the Future?

Introduction

Technological advancement in the twenty-first century has led to great progress in the human revolution since technology is rapidly evolving in many industries such as the motor vehicle industry (Herrtwich, 2017). In particular, cars are currently evolving, and it is anticipated that traditionally driven vehicles may be replaced by driverless cars also known as autonomous vehicles in the future. This paper examines different websites and researches conducted on the similarities and differences conducted on driverless and traditionally driven cars and uses their results to support the facts presented. Although people think that both the driverless and traditionally driven cars do not have significant variations, it is important to assess their similarities and differences in terms of their validity, efficiency to use, cost, and probability of their success.

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Validity is one of the most significant aspects to compare and contrast driverless and traditionally driven cars in terms of safety and human behavior. While autonomous cars are operated using sensors that monitor the surrounding of the vehicle, traditional cars are dependent on the driver's ability to navigate the environment (Koopman & Wagner, 2016). This aspect makes driverless care safer than traditionally driven vehicles since the driver errors are eliminated. However, since driverless cars cannot anticipate human behavior, this becomes their major downside. This may result in accidents which are, nevertheless, expected to be comparatively lower than those caused by human-driven vehicles (Herrtwich, 2017). Therefore, since driverless are unable to predict human behavior, this makes the traditionally driven vehicles safer because drivers can anticipate other individuals' behavior and control their cars to avoid accidents.

In terms of efficiency to use, driverless cars are more convenient and bring an aspect of egalitarianism to the motor industry compared to traditionally driven vehicles. They are convenient to utilize than traditionally driven cars because drivers do not spend a lot of energy and time to watch the road. Drivers can, therefore, use such energy and time to do other things as they travel since the vehicles are self-driven (Woodyard, 2015). However, in case of level three automated vehicles which require the driver as a fallback, the transition from automatic driving to manual may pose as a problem as the drivers may not have been observant on the road (Koopman & Wagner, 2016). Therefore, they may not be ready to react appropriately and take control of the car like in traditionally driven cars. Also, unlike in traditionally driven cars, driverless cars introduce an aspect of egalitarianism which brings equality in motor industry. Egalitarianism enables people with disability or the elderly population to navigate driverless cars (Sadigh, Sastry Seshia & Dragan, 2016). This ensures that every individual uses a car like their normal and healthy counterparts despite their physical status and age among other issues (Herrtwich, 2017. However, this is not the case with traditionally driven car since they require, for instance, drivers who are physically fit.

Traditionally driven cars are relatively cheaper as compared to driverless cars (Anderson et al., 2014). Unlike traditionally driven cars, driverless cars are equipped with software and complex technology which make it quite expensive (Anderson et al., 2014). This makes driverless cars more expensive, and since most people are unable to purchase them, they end up buying more of traditionally driven cars which are equipped with affordable technology and software. Thus, this makes the traditionally driven vehicles more preferred and popular than autonomous vehicles.

Driverless cars have a high probability of success than traditionally driven cars (Konig & Neumayr, 2017). This is because as technology is rapidly changing, majority of car manufacturers are also focusing more on the production of driverless cars rather than traditionally driven car to align themselves with the current and emerging technology (Woodyard, 2015). Buyers, on the other hand, are also moving with the emerging technology hence driverless cars are expected to be successful since customers are more inclined to purchase products with improved technological features. However, some buyers are slow to accept driverless vehicles especially the older drivers because they find it hard to adjust with the current technology (Konig & Neumayr, 2017). Therefore, they turn to traditionally driven cars despite driverless cars having a higher probability of success than their counterparts.

Conclusion

With advancement in technology, there have been emergence of driverless car which challenges traditionally driven cars in terms of their validity, efficiency to use, cost, and probability of their success. Driverless cars have been found to be appealing since they are safe, offer convenience and egalitarianism, have a higher probability of success than traditionally driven cars. Traditionally driven cars, on the other hand, are cheaper and brings an aspect of control which increases safety as human behavior can be anticipated. Therefore, due to significant benefits associated with driverless cars, every individual including the elderly should accept and shift to autonomous cars to enjoy their convenience and egalitarianism among other merits.

References

Anderson, J. M., Nidhi, K., Stanley, K. D., Sorensen, P., Samaras, C., & Oluwatola, O. A. (2014). Autonomous vehicle technology: A guide for policymakers. Rand Corporation.

Herrtwich, R. (2017). The difference between autonomous and driverless cars. Retrieved 22 September 2019, from https://360.here.com/2017/02/06/difference-autonomous-driverless-cars/

Koopman, P., & Wagner, M. (2016). Challenges in autonomous vehicle testing and validation. SAE International Journal of Transportation Safety, 4(1), 15-24.

Konig, M., & Neumayr, L. (2017). Users' resistance towards radical innovations: The case of the self-driving car. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 44, 42-52.

Sadigh, D., Sastry, S., Seshia, S. A., & Dragan, A. D. (2016, June). Planning for autonomous cars that leverage effects on human actions. In Robotics: Science and Systems (Vol. 2).

Woodyard, c. (2015). Self-driving cars have higher accident. Retrieved 22 September 2019, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/10/31/study-self-driving-cars-accidents/74946614/