Top questions about self-driving cars answered: here’s what a driverless future will look like

There’s no escaping the fact that driverless cars are the future. Just like with any other technology, the time has come to take cars to the next level with autonomous vehicles. Unsurprisingly, there’s been a lot of skepticism around the issue, especially following the pedestrian death that occurred during Uber’s autonomous vehicle testing last year.

But, despite concerns, it is clear that both the automotive industry and the governments in many developed countries around the world are investing heavily to make autonomous cars a reality within the next ten years. In fact, most millennials are not bothering to learn how to drive. Why? Because according to them, autonomous cars will soon be the preferred mode of transport, so why bother learning a skill that will become obsolete? In fact, with the growing concern over high parking costs and lack of parking space, it would be a good idea to sell your car to a wrecker and simple start using services such as Uber to take you places. Whether you’re for or against autonomous cars, chances are that you have a growing pile of questions about it. Will automated cars make the roads safer? Will there be less traffic? What about driving tests and licenses? Will those become obsolete once self-driving cars become mainstream? Read on to find out the answers for all those questions and more.

Will automated cars make our roads safer & accident-free?

While it’s unfortunate that a person was killed during a test drive of a driverless car, once the kinks are worked out, automated cars will be a much safer alternative to human driving. This is because, according to a survey conducted by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 93% of crashes occur as a result of human error. With autonomous vehicles, we cut down on accidents and fatalities caused as a result of drink driving, texting while driving, falling asleep behind the wheel due to exhaustion and other careless mistakes that humans tend to make. So, once autonomous cars have been extensively tested to ensure 100% safety, we can look forward to our roads being much safer, thanks to the elimination of human drivers.

Will our roads be less congested?

Once automated cars become a reality, the need to own a car will reduce significantly, with more and more people opting to rely on some form of on-demand service to take them from point to point. This in combination with the fact that self-driving cars will calculate precisely to ensure less accelerating and braking means that the flow of traffic will be smooth, and more vehicles will be able to fit on the road. Another huge factor to consider is that, since there will be less accidents, there will be less instances of bottleneck traffic to deal with as well. So, yes, automated cars will help make our roads less congested.

Top questions about self-driving cars answered: here’s what a driverless future will look like
Photo: Sarmad, Pexels.

Will there still be a need for driving tests & licenses?

Since the cars will be driverless there will be no need for driving tests and licenses, right? Well, not exactly. It’s expected that within self-driving cars, there will be different systems or levels. So, in order to drive a particular type or category of automated vehicle, you might need to still take a driving test to prove that you’re capable of operating a particular system. While the driving tests may be completely different from what we have in place now, suffice it to say there will be some form of test to determine whether or not a person is fit to operate an autonomous vehicle.

Hopefully, this article has provided you with some clarity about what a future with driverless cars will look like. We’re not there yet, but everyday, we get a little bit closer. Someday, it won’t be uncommon for people to commute to work in their autonomous car, napping, eating or watching a movie, while the car does the driving!

Preetha Gunasekaran
Preetha Gunasekaran
I'm a content writer at Clixpert . I love sharing my ideas and opinions on a range of topics, from travel and photography to business and personal finance. I'm a curious learner, an avid reader who's always on the lookout for interesting articles, blogs and news pieces to read.
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