Are driverless cars actually an option?

Elon Musk, owner of American car company Tesla, has claimed that his new self-driving vehicles will not need human steering at all. This might just be the start of a bigger revolution – driverless cars. It seems that the technology is within our reach, but is it something that we’ll see on our local roads anytime soon?

When we think driverless cars, we may imagine cars with no steering wheels or pedals, that are fully in control of the passengers. However, there are plenty of different ‘stages’ of autonomy and in reality there are many different types of driverless cars. Some offer to assist you with the pedals, while others will take full control until you decide you want the control back. While fully automated cars are an option, you also have the option to retain some control.

Self-driving cars aim to decrease the number of collisions on the road and allow the passengers to focus on other tasks, giving them more productivity time. Technically, it will make driving more flexible too, as night time journeys won’t be a problem if you can sleep instead of drive.

So, if the technology is there, why aren’t they already on our roads? One issue that Britain has is its unreliable internet connection. These cars require the internet to work, and if they drive into an area where they can’t connect they won’t work properly. Another issue is the way we go about our lives. For example, jay-walking is not a rare occurrence in Britain. People freely cross the roads without using a designated crossing and this can throw up some issues if the passenger hasn’t got the ability to react to a pedestrian. There is definitely research that needs to be carried out before these are an option for the British roads.

While they are supposed to be safer because they follow the rules of the road, it doesn’t mean there is no risk whatsoever with driverless cars. There’s a possibility for them to be programmed to make judgement in a car accident of who’s at fault. In some ways, this might make the process a lot easier than it is currently. But laws for these cars will be tricky, and there might be the need to introduce new legislations that cover issues of malfunctions and errors.

In order for driverless cars to become a viable option in the UK, we all have to adapt our way of thinking. Insurance companies will have to provide affordable insurance, which is hard to do with no clear data on how safe they are. The way we use the roads have to change, and we would need to be more aware of how we act as pedestrians. Even so, they have the potential to make the roads much safer and can give people the opportunity to travel in ways that suit them, so with a bit more work and research they could truly be an option.