Innovators from companies such as Google, BMW and Nissan have proposed and tested the idea of driverless cars. They say these vehicles of the future will be ready for the market by 2020. The cars will use artificial intelligence and external and internal sensors to autonomously navigate the road. Sensors, including lasers and cameras will also be used to monitor the surrounding environment. Experts say the sensors are tied to the car’s control system by 100 microprocessors allowing it to independently break before unexpected objects, stay in its lane and maintain a safe following distance.
However, as many pros as these futuristic vehicles may have, there are negative sides as well. Everyone’s computer has at one point either crashed or gotten a virus, what if that computer was onboard an autonomous vehicle going 90km/h? Or if the sensors in charge of the car’s control system overheated from the sun? It poses the question who would be to blame if there was an accident, would it be the driver or the car company? Other cons include the expensive price of the cars and the loss of jobs (taxi drivers, bus drivers, etc). Car manufactures are quick to tell consumers all the great attributes these vehicles will have but ethically there’s much more to the picture.