4 Important Things You Should Know About Self-Driving Vehicles

While self-driving vehicles might seem like things out of science fiction, they are real and also growing in popularity and presence on the road. Since you are going to be sharing the road with some at some point, then you need to know a few things about self-driving vehicles before you buckle up and get on the road with one. Or in a self-driving vehicle yourself!

1. Self-Driving Cars Use The Same Technology That We Use Every Day

If you’ve used parking assist, lane control, cruise control, and automatic braking while you have been driving your car, then you’ve done some level of being inside of a self-driving car! These autonomous features help to keep drivers safe and focused on the road, and they can even make certain aspects of driving safe.

So while it might seem like self-driving cars are popping up out of thin air and have become a new thing, the parts to build them have been around for a long while. And automakers are going to keep on advancing these small parts and then using those advancements to build the next generation of self-driving cars.

2. The Goal Of Self-Driving Vehicles Is To Eliminate Driver Error

It’s not a stretch to admit that human error causes a lot of crashes. We get tired, we get distracted, and we don’t react in time to deal with road situations. A lot of accidents and deaths on the road have been caused by humans, and the goal of self-driving cars is to reduce the human factor that causes accidents.

That’s not to say that accidents won’t happen, because even the best computers and sensor systems in the world are prone to error, but the hope is that self-driving cars can get the number of crashes caused per year to be very low.

3. Self-Driving Vehicles Currently Get Into More Accidents Than Vehicles With Human Drivers

The technology for self-driving cars is still a long way from being perfect, and they currently get into more accidents than human driven vehicles. Bad weather and colder climates can sometimes mess up the systems that allow the cars to ‘see’ the road. Plus, safety regulations aren’t standardized across all states, and there isn’t a guidebook of standard regulations that manufacturers need to put in. 

Self-driving cars and the automation that they require are still being tested. In fact, almost all self-driving cars need a driver in the driver’s seat to manage the car and take control if something does go wrong. 

We are still a long way away from the automation needed to have a truly driverless car, but we are getting there. Until then you might want to have some self-driving vehicle accident lawyers on standby in case things go wrong.

4. Humans Still Have Some Advantages

While computers might be less likely to make errors in the first place, they are a lot less capable of self-correcting to solve the problem. Humans can make split-second decisions and respond to situations with a speed that can rival a computer, and that’s something not all technology can replicate.

Some types of situations are clearly dangerous or at least require some caution, and those can be identified by humans. However, automatic cars might not detect these situations, and that can lead to tragic results.

No matter how good technology gets and how prominent self-driving cars can be on the road, they will never truly replace human drivers. Still, they can prove to be helpful in certain areas and very beneficial when it comes to preventing accidents altogether if we learn how to build and use them correctly.