ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Getting Use to Driverless Cars

Updated on July 8, 2013

In the past 15 years, we have, as a society, have had to accept new things in our world. In the future, the very near future (say, 2020+) there will be driver and driverless cars going about their business. It will be a HUGE hurdle to accept and trust for society. Of course, the standard question is the why? Why have a car that drives itself with a human passenger? Yes, I know technologically it is a milestone, but will it actually, really work as good as a human driver in urban traffic, say like LA or NYC?

Yes, I see a need for it when driving on the long trips on the Interstate where the roads require little turning. Truckers would really like them. Will human drivers try to outsmart the driverless cars? What happens in an accident and there are no witnesses, just the human driver and, um, the car with no driver? Can a driverless car travel without any occupants? That would really odd to see, but I can see a purpose for it. What will occur when criminals manipulate them or hack them, will there be car chases?

Already, California, Nevada and Florida have made it legal to operate driverless cars on public roads- two years ago! According to Google, the main proponent for them, has driven them 435,000 miles in cities and highways without one accident. Really? Not even a minor fender bender? What conditions were they driven, how? Naturally, Google is going to say this but are there any independent studies? Hmmm, I thought not.

Of course, you cannot yet buy one. They cannot be sold. There is a natural fear about them, just as there was in 1897 with a Horseless Carriage, now called a "car". Back then, having a carriage without a horse pulling it seemed very odd and most drivers were scared. Take this eyewitness from an old magazine called, The Horseless Carriage:

"There is a sense of incompleteness about it. you seemed to be sitting on the end of a huge pushcart, propelled by an invisible force and guided by a hidden hand. There is also a seeming brazeness to the whole performance. Initially, the people along Fifth Avenue cheered me on going down the street, but that gradually stopped. It seemed odd not having a horse in front but as I continued, the fear of not having a horse stopped. I no longer needed a horse in front of me".

Eventually, everyone got use to the idea that a horse was now replaced with a motor with horsepower in front for protection. Driverless cars are actually more advanced in Europe because there is less resistance to them. A Ford Focus can drive itself in steady traffic and keep a safe distance from others. Volvo offers cars that can parallel park by themselves after the driver gets out (now, I could use that!). Audi is working on a traffic jam feature for cars to drive themselves in traffic up to 40 mph.

The argument for them is that each year one million are killed in car accidents. I find it impossible to believe that no humans will be driving their own hot cars. Driving a car is much than getting from A to B. For many, it is an extension of their personality to drive them, especially sport cars. Then, there are liability issues and new laws for driverless cars.

Yes, driverless cars are coming, driven by computers. How boring.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)