The Many Impacts of Self Driving Cars Essay

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Self-driving cars are immanently poised to hit the market. Now is the time to develop effective strategies for welcoming the new and promising technologies, which have the potential to dramatically improve transportation infrastructure throughout the world. Driverless cars present unique legal, political, and economic challenges, as well as offering insight into the social and cultural factors that may present barriers to technology adoption. Self-driving cars can be integrated into a sustainable development program, while also solving some of the most pressing logistical and public health problems. The following is a brief analysis of the technology’s influence on society, considering social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental issues.

Social and Cultural Considerations

From inattentiveness to impairment, from speeding to decision-making or perceptual misreads, over 90% of driving accidents are caused by human error (Azmat & Schuhmayer, 2015). Driverless cars have the potential to radically improve public safety. The loss of productivity due to long commutes and congested roads is also an important social issue that is a primary impetus for immediately implementing a self-driving car infrastructure. Azmat & Schuhmayer (2015) estimate around $101 billion a year is lost due to the downtime related to commuting. Self-driving cars also lead to better overall land use in urban areas, and overall help promote a higher quality of life. Acceptance of self-driving cars is growing. Research has shown that consumers respond more favorably to self-driving cars and related smart roads infrastructure when presented with information that showcases the positive effects of these technologies (Nees, 2016). Cultural variables will impact the ways self-driving cars are marketed and presented to the consumer, and will have a huge impact in how lawmakers and policy makers discuss the public planning programs for welcoming driverless cars. Most members of the public will be willing to accept the technology when all information is clearly and credibly presented, and when viewed from a “long-term, evolutionary perspective,” and not just a means to achieve short term gains (Araujo, Mason & Spring, 2012, p. 4).

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At the same time, consumers will be most interested in their cost-benefits analyses, and how self-driving cars will affect their pocketbooks, public safety, as well as their personal safety. Therefore, it is critical to present information in honest and straightforward ways. Nees (2016) also found that misinformation or idealizing driverless cars can reduce overall trust in the technology. The social benefits of self-driving cars are an important reason why the technology needs to be implemented strategically, with due consideration for cultural variables. Furthermore, self-driving cars may be of especial importance in countries where infrastructure is underdeveloped. Self-driving car fleets in a car share model will open up transportation opportunities to people in rural areas who otherwise do not have access to jobs.

Political Considerations

By 2012, California and Nevada had already proposed bills to facilitate the integration of driverless cars within their existing public infrastructure (Araujo, Mason & Spring, 2012). By 2013, several more states including Florida and the District of Columbia passed laws authorizing self-driving automobile manufacturers to test drive their vehicles on public roads, with almost a dozen other states following suit (Howard & Dai, 2013, p. 6). Clearly, the political impetus to facilitate technological innovation is starting to outweigh the public fears of a new technology. Because much of the technology is driven from the engineering sector itself, politicians need to play a mediating role between communicating the results of scientific innovation to….....

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