Driving can be treacherous.  Bikes and scooters zip out of nowhere in neighborhoods, distracted people wander into traffic, and stopped cars and speed bumps suddenly appear.  It takes a vigilant driver to avoid catastrophe.  Someday soon, few drivers will have to worry about car crashes and collisions, whether on congested roads or on empty highways, technology companies and car manufacturers are betting.

Volvo, BMW, Audi and Mercedes have announced that they will begin to develop models with sensors and software to allow the car to drive itself up to certain speed.  The sensors and software have functions including monitor the surroundings of a driving car and even track the driver’s physical state.  The systems can offer auditory, visual and mechanical warnings and evasive actions for possible imminent collisions.  It can also take over when the driver is not doing the right thing!

This video is about DARPA competition for driverless cars.  Driverless cars were originally designed for military to reduce casualties.  Now it is being developed for civilian uses.

Many big corporations like General Motor and Google are also thinking about developing such technology.  This technology is able to drive the car itself regardless whether a driver is present.  It can detect the car’s surroundings instantly.  All the driving stress due to extreme weathers, road conditions and emergency situations means completely nothing to a software as it is a huge deal for human beings.  People in the future can have a nap or watch movies when they drive home.

Statistics proved that by having a driverless system, over 2202 lives from 2008 to 2010 were saved. California and Nevada have already pass the laws for legalizing self-driving cars as long as a human being is inside, able to take over(Clark, 2013).

Reference

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/29/states-driverless-cars/2595613/