possible merits and demerits of The inception of Autonomous Vehicles

possible merits and demerits of The inception of Autonomous Vehicles

The inception of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) has brought with it debates about the possible merits and demerits associated with the new technological invention. Just like other technological inventions, Autonomous Vehicles are bound to impact the lives of people differently, both positively and negatively. Hancock et al., (2016) comments on the invention as, “The advent of AVs on the busy roadways of the world’s nations represents a sea change in the way human transportation is conceived and enacted” (7691). There are a lot of uncertainties surrounding the invention, as was with every other technological invention such as smartphones, personal computers, and digital cameras. However, there is optimism that once people get used to Autonomous Vehicles, there would be a smooth transition, which would lead to affordable and efficient transport systems. Every technological invention is done with the intention to reduce the effort used in work, which would otherwise be very heavy. Self-driving vehicles need people to plan for future activities such as parking facilities and traffic regulation. Subsequently, there are possible issues to do with accidents that might need to be mitigated when the Autonomous Vehicles finally hit the road. However, the inception of Autonomous Vehicles promises to come with possible advantages that have been missing in the transit systems of many countries around the globe (Lipson 23). On the other side, it is not prudent to overlook the possible costs and obstacles that are associated with such inventions. Further, there are possible policy complications that would arise since Autonomous Vehicles are supposed to use roads that are similarly used with others on a daily basis. Autonomous Vehicles are different from other technological inventions because their mode of use directly affects the public, which would result in extended costs and regulations which would need to be implemented. The inception of Autonomous Vehicles would have both positive and negative impacts on governments and the public on the use of transport infrastructures.

Impact on Passengers

Autonomous Vehicles would be beneficial to passengers in the reduction of stress and tedium because no one would be required to drive, especially when the journey is too long. The passengers would only need to sit in the car and be driven to their destinations. The passengers would, therefore, have time to rest and relieve stress from their days at work (Lutin 95). Further, the Autonomous Vehicles can be turned into offices, bedrooms, or playing rooms where the passengers can be involved in productive activities that help in the conservation of time spent on the journeys. Autonomous Vehicles would also help people in the society who cannot drive to commute easily, thus allowing them to access educational, health, and other religious institutions with a lot of ease. The disabled in the society who would wish to move around but cannot do so due to lack of driving capability would find reprieve in the Autonomous Vehicles. As such Autonomous Vehicles would reduce chauffeuring demands on friends and family members of disabled people’s thus increasing productivity in society.

There are possible impacts on the people depending on public transport as a source of income for their families. The Autonomous Vehicles will likely render taxi drivers and public bus drivers’ jobless as most people would prefer to be self-driven rather than take the taxi or public buses. The living standards of those dependent on non-driver clients would thereby be diversely affected due to losing clients to Autonomous Vehicles. There would be a lot of costs involved to re-train the taxi and bus drivers to find meaningful jobs in other industries (Bagloee 300). Additionally, Autonomous Vehicles are run on computer technologies that are vulnerable to hacking with malicious people. Cybercriminals would be able to manipulate the cars and cause them to crash or lead the passengers to kidnapping zones. The cyber-crimes involving the Autonomous Vehicles would be on the rise, thus putting the lives of passengers at risk. Hacking of the information systems of the Autonomous Vehicles would also lead to the shutdown of the systems leading to the shutdown of all the vehicles on the road. The shutdown in highways would lead to massive traffic jams that would take weeks or possibly months to deal with, thus leading to significant effects on the productivity of the economy. To mitigate such threats, the makers of Autonomous Vehicles are trying to find ways to seal the loopholes that might be used by possible hackers to take down the information systems of AVs. However, the hackers are also trying to find even further ways of manipulating the security backups being put in place currently. These possible attacks show possible bloating of costs that would be needed to keep the passengers and Autonomous Vehicles safe from possible cyber-crime attacks.

Impact on Ownership and Operation costs of Autonomous Vehicles

The ownership costs of the Autonomous Vehicles are predicted to be higher than the non-autonomous cares; therefore, it will be impossible for common people to afford them. The maintenance of such vehicles is also likely to be high, given that a lot of services will be required to keep the vehicle in working condition (Bagloee 286). Aspects such as security cameras, adaptive cruise control, and software would be highly-priced, therefore limiting the number of people that could afford the vehicles. Driving in traffic used by various types of road users such as pedestrians, cyclists, animals, and other vulnerable groups as children is more complicated and would lead to the vehicle taking some sharp measures which will need frequent maintenance. The maintenance and repair costs are, therefore, predicted to soar and would be costly to low-income families. Litman (2020) believes that “Since failures could be deadly, autonomous vehicles will need robust, redundant and abuse-resistant components maintained by specialists, increasing maintenance costs” (6). The ownership and maintenance costs would significantly reduce the number of Autonomous Vehicles on the roads, thereby making them economically costly to produce due to the limited market.

Impact on Traffic Safety and Transport Security

Autonomous Vehicles would have advanced driver assistance systems that would be able to anticipate possible accident scenarios and prevent them before occurring. Litman (2020) reports that “Optimists claim that, because human error contributes to 90% of crashes, autonomous vehicles will reduce crash rates and insurance costs by 90%” (10). As opposed to the driver-controlled vehicles that are prone to human error, the AVs have machines that can carry out commands that would be impossible for humans to do (Lipson 127). The reduction of human deaths by almost ninety percent would be a welcome boost to the economy, which would be able to save over two hundred billion dollars in health care costs annually. It would also be easier to control traffic systems because the vehicles would be automated with systems that could easily detect traffic signs and respond to them promptly.

However, there are limits to the AVs preventing accidents because they are machines, and there are risks of failures or lockdowns, which can still cause crashes. Hardware and software failures are the possible causes of possible crashes involving AVs. Further, malicious hacking and risk-taking by passengers in autonomous vehicles like competing, one another may add to risks of getting accidents in highways (Ashley and Michael n.p). The possibilities of human drives mixing with autonomous vehicles also present possible circumstances where crashes would likely occur frequently. Predictions, therefore, show that Autonomous Vehicles would not be able to prevent up to ninety percent of accidents on the roads. Optimists believe that there is a cure to possible crashes posed by hardware or software failure. The solution would be to share the Autonomous Vehicles among groups of people to reduce their frequency on the roads to reduce accidents. The autonomous vehicles can also be programmed to drive slowly in high-risk areas or next to human drivers so as to ensure the possible causes of accidents are eliminated, therefore preventing accidents on the road.

Impact on External Costs

Optimists and predictors believe that autonomous vehicles would greatly reduce costs of maintenance, such as traffic congestion and parking facility costs. Further, it is predicted that autonomous vehicles would have little emissions, thereby reducing air pollution by a significant margin (Ashley and Michael n.p). The autonomous vehicles also have reduced energy consumption there save costs on energy as compared to the normal vehicles on the road. On the other hand, preparations for autonomous vehicles would require a lot of costs. For example, autonomous vehicles would need specially marked roads and special traffic lights with sensors that they would use to avoid mixing with driver-controlled vehicles. With the autonomous vehicles on the road, there would be increased traffic as the vehicles mix with driver-controlled vehicles. Further, insurance companies would have to change their policies due to responsibility moving from the drivers to makers of autonomous vehicles (Ashley and Michael n.p). The invention of autonomous vehicles ensures that drivers would be eliminated; therefore, there would be no driver-related accidents. The accidents would involve self-driving vehicles; therefore, the responsibilities of accidents would go back to the producers of autonomous vehicles. Optimists believe that all these threats could be mitigated with management plans and policies, which should be put in place earlier in contemplation of the commencement of the use of autonomous vehicles.

Conclusion

The inception of Autonomous Vehicles has possible positive and negative impacts on governments and the public on the use of transport infrastructures. The merits of Autonomous Vehicles include reduction of risks of accidents with ninety percent, which would tremendously save human lives as compared to the current driver-controlled vehicles. The Autonomous Vehicles are therefore huge on safety and low on costs as predicted. Further, the idea of Autonomous Vehicles gives passengers options of working on the move, thus saving time and boosting productivity. Autonomous Vehicles would also give a chance to disabled passengers to move around, consequently easily accessing institutions that would otherwise be impossible on driver-controlled vehicles. However, there are demerits of Autonomous Vehicles such as possible hardware and software failures, which may result in crashes and accidents. Further, the ownership and maintenance costs of the Autonomous Vehicles would make it impossible for low-income families to own the vehicles. The inception of Autonomous Vehicles would also render a lot of people jobless, thus interfering with their daily livelihoods. However, the positive impacts outweigh the negative ones, therefore, making it possible to give Autonomous Vehicles a trial.