Shut up and drive

We trust certain apps on our phones to take us to the right location and for other simple day to day activities. But that doesn’t mean we should trust technology with our lives. Driverless cars have been in the works for years and lately more companies are jumping on the bandwagon, but that doesn’t mean we should follow. It’s important to take a step back from letting technology control our lives and realize that driverless cars are dangerous for both passengers and other drivers on the road.

Google, Uber, Apple and many other companies all have autonomous car projects in work. These cars are able to navigate the road without a human controller using techniques such as radar, GPS, computer vision among others. These techniques sense the environment around the car and try their best to transport their passengers safely. Although the Google car does come equipped with a removable steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedal, passengers should still be wary.

According to a recent study from the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute, the goals of autonomous cars are somewhat unrealistic. The report concluded it’s not proven that self-driving vehicles can drive any better than a middle-aged driver and that road safety might worsen during the transition period where self-driving and conventional vehicles share the road.

In another University of Michigan Transportation study it was concluded that motion sickness is expected to increase with self-driving vehicles. The report explains that there are three main causes of motion sickness: “conflict between vestibular and visual inputs, inability to anticipate the direction of motion, and lack of control over the direction of motion.” These factors are significantly heightened in self-driving vehicles. If the population gives in to autonomous cars, six to ten percent are expected to always experience motion sickness.

The possibility of car hijacking is not something to overlook with autonomous cars either. Although hijacking isn’t something we usually think of happening in our daily lives, it will become more prevalent with self-driving cars. Hijackers could hack into the car software and be able to know every location of the car. If the car is being used, hackers now know that the house could possibly empty and therefore have a better chance in successfully breaking into a house. Softwares also have the possibility to be hijacked, letting hackers control the driving of the car.

Aside from the dangers on the road, self-driving cars are also taking away profit from motor industries, therefore damaging our economy. The investment bank, Morgan Stanley, portrayed in a recent report that autonomous cars will cause traditional motor industries to struggle with new products. While conventional motor industries will be struggling to make a profit, so will the advanced ones. The profit, and the credit, will mostly be granted to the companies that invent the software, not the physical car manufacturers.

In five years Google plans to end human driving. Driving is an exciting milestone in life and getting a license is something all teenagers look forward to. Teens want to get behind the wheel and feel free. With the elimination of conventional cars comes the elimination of the skills learned from driving. As teens learn to drive we gain the essential skills of patience, responsibility, awareness and hand-eye coordination. If we lose conventional driving, we lose these necessary skills we need to succeed in life.

Electronics randomly fail all the time; all of a sudden an iPhone can freeze and black out. Passengers need to consider that driverless car software, like iPhones, can get a virus and freeze too.  Although driverless cars seem like a cool new way to make your life easier, new technology isn’t always the best option. With autonomous cars comes danger and a loss of skills. It’s important to take a step back and appreciate the conventional car.