UPDATED: Mar 12, 2020
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Technology today has brought the car and insurance industry so far into the future that it’s wild to imagine we could think up anything else. But there is one new technology that’s the talk of the town: driverless cars.
That’s right. While we may not have flying cars like George Jetson just yet, car manufacturers are stepping into this futuristic technology for cars. Manufacturers such as Tesla already have some vehicles available with this capability and are continuing to develop the driverless capability even further.
What does this mean for you, though? Is this a good thing? A bad thing? Somewhere in the middle? Well, that’s what we’re here to help you figure out.
We’ve put together this list of pros and cons for driverless cars to help you know what to expect with this kind of technology.
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Pros for Driverless Cars
With such a new kind of technology, there are boundless capabilities and applications that this can be used for. In this section, we’ll talk about all of the potential pros of driverless cars.
#6 – Roads Could be Safer
One potential benefit of driverless cars is that roads could be generally safer — even after taking a driver’s education class. A majority of car accidents are caused by human error, so by taking this factor out, there could be a lot fewer accidents.
In fact, according to a study conducted by ENO Centre of Transportation, if 90 percent of vehicles on the road in the United States were driverless, the number of accidents would fall from 6 million a year to 1.3 million.
This same study also concluded that the number of deaths would even decrease significantly from 33,000 to 11,300.
This is groundbreaking, as one of the top causes of deaths in the United States is car accidents. Taking human error out of the equation can help save lives.
#5 – Traffic Could Improve
If you have a vehicle that’s driving itself and can navigate the roads and around other vehicles, that would mean less traffic to deal with.
Driverless cars would be able to better calculate the best routes to avoid causing congestion and therefore cut down on, or even possibly eliminate, traffic congestion.
This would also mean that commute times could be quicker and less hectic in more heavily populated areas, such as that in the video seen below.
Everyone can appreciate less traffic congestion, especially on your way to work.
#4 – Economically Friendly
While the technology hasn’t quite become mainstream yet, it could become a more financially affordable mode of transportation for drivers.
What do we mean when we say that? Well, since driverless cars are still a new technology, they may not currently be the most affordable for the everyday driver. But when the technology becomes more widely available and more competitive among car manufacturers, the price will become extremely affordable.
In addition to this, with the potential for fewer car accidents, there would be fewer car-related accident costs drivers would have to deal with. There would be less property damage and fewer medical expenses that can often plague car accident victims.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the year 2013 alone, the estimated total cost of vehicular-related deaths resulted in about $44 billion in medical and work loss costs. That’s a pretty hefty number.
In fact, the cost of crashes across the United States range highly based on where you live, as you can see in the table below.
| State | Total Costs |
|---|---|
| Alaska | $72 million |
| Alabama | $1200 million |
| Arkansas | $683 million |
| Arizona | $1050 million |
| California | $4480 million |
| Colorado | $647 million |
| Connecticut | $407 million |
| Delaware | $139 million |
| Delaware | $3020 million |
| Georgia | $1630 million |
| Hawaii | $149 million |
| Iowa | $399 million |
| Idaho | $303 million |
| Illinois | $1410 million |
| Indiana | $1070 million |
| Kansas | $449 million |
| Kentucky | $798 million |
| Louisiana | $1010 million |
| Massachusetts | $438 million |
| Maryland | $690 million |
| Maine | $180 million |
| Michigan | $1200 million |
| Minnesota | $521 million |
| Missouri | $981 million |
| Mississippi | $861 million |
| Montana | $299 million |
| North Carolina | $1710 million |
| North Dakota | $162 million |
| Nebraska | $311 million |
| New Hampshire | $167 million |
| New Jersey | $689 million |
| Nevada | $433 million |
| Nevada | $356 million |
| New York | $1590 million |
| Oklahoma | $1330 million |
| Oklahoma | $902 million |
| Oregon | $426 million |
| Pennsylvania | $1600 million |
| Rhode Island | $84 million |
| South Carolina | $1050 million |
| South Dakota | $177 million |
| Tennessee | $1250 million |
| Texas | $4890 million |
| Utah | $268 million |
| Virginia | $947 million |
| Vermont | $86 million |
| Washington | $654 million |
| Wisconsin | $692 million |
| West Virginia | $397 million |
| Wyoming | $127 million |
Hotspots for vehicular-related deaths are more heavily concentrated in higher populated areas. Imagine these numbers dramatically decreasing with the help of driverless cars.
#3 – Environmentally Friendly
Most people today are trying to become more environmentally friendly, lower the carbon footprint. Having a driverless car would help with this goal.
Self-driving (driverless) cars have fewer vehicle emissions than standard vehicles currently do. Think more along the lines of electric power cars such as Teslas. Due to their use of electricity, air pollution decreases.
Check out the video below if you want to see how current vehicles are affecting the environment to get a better idea as to why electric cars are so revolutionary.
Another factor would be more controlled speeds. Why would that help make a vehicle more environmentally friendly? Well, if a vehicle is able to maintain a safer speed and keep a safer distance between other vehicles, it helps to support not only human life but animal life, as well.
Animals are another common cause of car accidents in the United States. If a driverless vehicle is able to better detect the road around it, the risk of hitting an animal would be drastically decreased and therefore help keep both passengers and animals safe.
#2 – Potential for Less Insurance Coverage Required
Yes, you read that right. If driverless cars become more mainstream, the requirements for insurance coverage may change.
There will still be a need for coverage such as liability, but as the human error will be eliminated from the equation, it’ll be car manufacturers and suppliers who will be taking responsibility. Not you.
Insurance coverage options that are currently required might become optional.
#1 – Increasing Job Market for Driverless Manufacturers
The technology industry is already a pretty booming market. Advances in technology are coming out faster than ever, and there is now a higher demand for those who know how to support this.
Car manufacturers will be in greater need of those skills — not only people to help create better driverless vehicles but also those workers who can help code and create the smoothest technology for their vehicles.
Those with automotive experience will also benefit, as the need for these vehicles increases. Doing technology-related work is one thing, but you still need to have someone who can put together the vehicle, so the demand for those who can put together solid vehicles will also be in demand.
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Cons for Driverless Cars
Now that you know some of the pros for driverless cars, let’s move on to discuss some of the cons for driverless cars.
#5 – Computer-Caused Accidents
Although human error may be practically eliminated with technology, computers aren’t always the most reliable, either. If you’re in a driverless vehicle and the computer malfunctions, that could leave you in a pretty precarious situation.
In fact, according to a study conducted by IHS Automotive, two major technology risks for these types of vehicles are software reliability and cyber-security.
This study notes that while human error-related accidents would be almost eliminated, the risk for an accident, in general, isn’t completely eliminated.
If an automated system were to fail for one reason or another, that could be very dangerous to drivers and could potentially lead to an accident.
As you can see from the video above, car accidents aren’t completely eliminated with the use of driverless vehicles.
#4 – Cyber Crimes
Going off of what we mentioned in the previous section, computers aren’t perfect, and one of the other potential hazards of a computer-automated vehicle is cybercrimes.
If you’re riding in your driverless car and someone were to hack your system, depending on the hacker’s motives, you could be in some serious danger.
Not only that, but most of these systems will have a lot of your private information on them, leading to the potential for someone to steal information about you from your car.
Manufacturers of these types of vehicles are attempting to make them as hacker-proof as possible, according to a recent Forbes article. They are still having a difficult time finding ways to ward off cybercrimes in an increasingly digital world.
#3 – Professional Drivers Without a Job
While those in the technology industry would be finding jobs left and right, those who currently work as professional drivers would actually find themselves without a job.
People working as truck drivers, cab drivers, limo drivers, food delivery drivers, and more would find themselves potentially out of a job.
#2 – Potentially Costly During Initial Development
We touched on this briefly in a previous section, but driverless cars are still not a mainstream type of vehicle. The technology is still very new and in its early development.
This means that until this type of technology does become more mainstream, getting your hands on an affordable option will be out of reach for most people.
#1 – Extreme Driving Conditions
While driverless vehicles are boasted to be able to predict the driving conditions ahead of it, there are a lot of extreme driving conditions that such a technology might not be able to predict.
Extreme weather conditions, for instance, can be highly unpredictable. While a driverless car may be able to factor in some weather reports, some conditions are just simply too unpredictable for even the most advanced technology.
Autonomous Car: So what now?
There are many potential benefits for driverless cars, and there are many things that could be potentially hazardous for driverless cars.
The more developed the technology becomes, the better the chances of decreasing some of the cons we mentioned above, but it’s still something currently not in reach.
But what can you expect to see as of now for driverless cars? There are currently various levels of automated driving, which range from no automation at all to complete automation.
The table below displays these various levels, from the level of automation to who does what in the vehicle.
| Levels of Automation | Who Does What and When |
|---|---|
| Level 0 | The human driver does all the driving. |
| Level 1 | An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) on the vehicle can sometimes assist the human driver with either steering or braking/accelerating, but not both simultaneously. |
| Level 2 | An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) on the vehicle can itself actually control both steering and braking/accelerating simultaneously under some circumstances. The human driver must continue to pay full attention (“monitor the driving environment”) at all times and perform the rest of the driving task. |
| Level 3 | An Automated Driving System (ADS) on the vehicle can itself perform all aspects of the driving task under some circumstances. In those circumstances, the human driver must be ready to take back control at any time when the ADS requests the human driver to do so. In all other circumstances, the human driver performs the driving task. |
| Level 4 | An Automated Driving System (ADS) on the vehicle can itself perform all driving tasks and monitor the driving environment – essentially, do all the driving – in certain circumstances. The human need not pay attention in those circumstances. |
| Level 5 | An Automated Driving System (ADS) on the vehicle can do all the driving in all circumstances. The human occupants are just passengers and need never be involved in driving. |
Many states across the nation are already starting to test these types of vehicles and are creating laws around them.
Check out the table below to see what laws are in place in your state:
| State | What type of driving automation on public roads does the law/provision permit? | Require an operator to be licensed? | Require an operator to be in the vehicle? | Require liability insurance? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Deployment?? commercial motor vehicles only | No | No | Yes; $2,000,000 |
| Arizona | Deployment | Yes | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Yes |
| Arkansas | Testing | Not addressed | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Yes |
| California | Deployment | Not addressed | No | Yes; $5,000,000 |
| Colorado | Deployment | No | Not addressed | No |
| Connecticut | Testing | Yes | Yes | Yes; $5,000,000 |
| District of Columbia | Deployment | Yes | Yes | No |
| Florida | Deployment | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Yes |
| Georgia | Deployment | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Yes |
| Hawaii | Testing | Not addressed | Not addressed | Not addressed |
| IlliNois | Testing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Iowa | Deployment | Yes | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Yes |
| Louisiana | Deployment ? commercial motor vehicles only | No | No | Yes; $2,000,000 |
| Maine | Testing | Not addressed | Not addressed | Yes |
| Massachusetts | Testing | No | Yes | No |
| Michigan | Depends on vehicle | Yes | No | Yes |
| Nebraska | Deployment | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Yes |
| Nevada | Deployment | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Yes |
| New Hampshire | Deployment | Yes | Yes, except for Testing | Yes; $5,000,000 |
| New York | Testing | Yes | Yes | Yes; $5,000,000 |
| North Carolina | Deployment | Depends on level of vehicle automation | No | Yes |
| North Dakota | Deployment | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Depends on level of vehicle automation | Yes |
| Ohio | Testing | Yes | No | Yes |
| Pennsylvania | Depends on vehicle | Depends on vehicle | Depends on vehicle | No |
| Tennessee | Deployment | No | No | Yes; $5,000,000 |
| Texas | Deployment | No | No | Yes |
| Utah | Deployment | Yes | No | Yes |
| Vermont | Testing | Yes | Yes | Yes; $5,000,000 |
| Virginia | Testing | Not addressed | Not addressed | No |
| Washington | Testing | Depends on whether operator present in vehicle | No | Yes |
In conclusion, this new and exciting technology may soon be in reach for many drivers and depending on what things you look most for in your driving experience, it could be a wonderful new technology or one that you’ll want to avoid.
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