The benefits of autonomous driving are many and have garnered enough attention. Some of the more heavily discussed among these include improving road traffic, reducing car accidents, offering convenience to lower emissions and better fuel economy. However, there are many challenges in self-driving technology that need to be addressed before it becomes mainstream.
Here are the main concerns about driverless cars to address before they become a norm all over the world:
1. Technological challenges
While driverless car technology has come a long way, there are still a few kinks to work out before these vehicles are deemed safe for the roads. Some unanswered technical and moral concerns are among the major challenges in the self driving-technology:
Safety
Safety challenges attributed to technological error range from small issues to some major obstacles. For instance, self-driving cars are prone to misreading the harmless water puddles on the road to be potholes and slow down without any reason. However, on the other hand, harsh weather can create a completely different problem. Heavy rain is likely to interfere with the sensors, while snow or dust on the road may make it harder for the car to read lines.
Moreover, the occasional errors made by other supporting apps, Google maps and Siri for instance, must be accounted for before assuming safe function from driverless cars. Besides, different transport and infrastructure authorities have been working on the future of driverless cars in the UAE to make emirates a smarter place to live in.
Another major concern is to ensure driverless cars are not easily fooled. While the major predictions for fully automated cars are that they will reduce car accidents by 75 to 90%, these statistics have no way to predict human interference from outside the cars.
Communication
One of the biggest advantages of future car technologies is their ability to communicate with each other on the road. Intercommunication between autonomous cars will facilitate smoother journeys. For instance, how convenient it is if your car knows about an accident on the road ahead because another driverless vehicle has assessed the situation already.
However, there are a few concerns related to this communication process. What about locations where information transmission by computers is hindered? Also, what are the chances of collaboration between different competing brands of driverless cars to allow them to communicate with each other? What level of information the cars should be allowed to share without compromising the privacy of their passengers?
Security
Since the self-driving cars are to function by sharing information with each other, not many people will be willing to sacrifice their privacy. These cars will be sharing their personal information to the server as well as with other cars. This gives rise to security issues.
Moreover, autonomous cars utilise technology to communicate, which can be a double-edge sword. In fact, one of the major disadvantages of self-driving cars is their vulnerability to hacking and theft. There had already been an incident in 2015, when Fiat Chrysler had to withdraw 1.4 million worth of their vehicles when the world found out these can be hacked.
Therefore, to ensure security and privacy of the passengers, these autonomous vehicles must be made secure by combating efficiently against wireless hacking.
Despite these challenges several vehicles with advanced automation in vehicles are functional and available in the market. One example would be Tesla cars. Have a look at the following listings of Tesla cars in the UAE to buy one at affordable rates:
2. Economic challenges
Another major hurdle in the path of autonomous cars is the loss of jobs and economic problems resulting due to automation of the cars. Jobs lost to robotics are a huge socio-political concern at the present time. Therefore, the introduction of more automation in the cars especially in the public transport sector will mean loss of jobs for cab drivers, truck drivers and Uber drivers.
Alternative job opportunities must be created alongside the automation process to avoid the issue.
3. Popularity challenges
While autonomous cars are likely to reduce accidents on the roads when driving with other autonomous vehicles. However, the same cannot be said about the neighbouring cars with human drivers. There is a likelihood of people being skeptical towards the new tech.
Companies selling driverless cars and stakeholders will have to demonstrate the benefits to win over the public. Moreover, they will have to improve the way autonomous vehicles handle the chaotic driving of human beings to avoid risks.
4. Moral/Ethical Challenges
Apart from the usual technological issues and safety concerns, another huge topic of debate for driverless cars revolves around the ethical and moral dilemmas and how to address them.
The main hurdle is to decide on the car’s behalf and develop a criteria to choose in case a collision is imminent. A simple example of this scenario would be what a driverless car should do if an accident is to happen but it can swerve in the other direction to save its passenger. However, if turning in another direction will kill or injure a pedestrian, should the car be programmed to save the passenger at that cost or not. This takes us to the trolley problem!
The trolley paradox is heavily discussed in this regard and many companies are working with researchers in philosophy to devise ways of navigating moral quandaries in a timely manner by these cars. You can check out these various possible issues at Moral Machine – a tool generated after thorough research to simulate different scenarios.
5. Legal Challenges
Challenges in self-driving technology are not limited to technological developments and can’t be addressed with successful road tests merely. The major stop where the autonomous vehicles manufacturing, selling and buying will be held up is the legislature.
Legal laws need to be formulated and implemented taking into account the moral, ethical concerns, social and economic parameters. Lawmakers will have to come up with legislation for car manufacturers and distributors to safeguard the rights of the masses.
One such major concern would be defining the liability in case of an accident. For now, car manufacturers do not take the responsibility in case of accidents. The drivers are held responsible but in case of autonomous vehicles, who will be answerable. The product or the manufacturers?
These are some of the major challenges in self-driving technology. While there is still a long way to go before driverless cars will take over the transportation industry, partial autonomous cars are still on the road. Whatever degree of automation you prefer, check out these used cars for sale in Dubai to buy one at an affordable price.
Stay tuned to the top blog of the UAE for more information on vehicles of all kinds.
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