SELF- DRIVING CARS- SHOULD WE RETHINK?

It is no longer news that different companies are on the competition with the innovation of self –driving cars. Works and trends being followed have shown that these companies are working earnestly to see to it that these cars are working actively for the good of all.

Image Credits : Simon Shim, unsplash.com

Of course, the active use of these cars will mean ease and probably even less traffic on our roads. Using a self- driving car will allow us moment of freedom and greatly, it will be a significant addition in the evolution of technology for the era/ century.

The likes of companies like Waymo, owned by Google and Uber amoung others have been known to be working actively on researching, making and test driving these cars. Car makers like Ford and Honda have also announced their intention of automating cars and including self- driving technologies.

Unfortunately though, recently, a self-driving Uber was spotted to have killed a pedestrian in Arizona. The car was said to have spotted the woman but labeled her a ‘False positive’ and therefore went ahead to hit her rather than avoid her.

Do we want frequent cases like this?

Also, following a TESLA self- driving car accident which occurred on the 23rd of March. This accident lead to the death of the car driver after the car burst into flame. Investigations and report showed that the car was on Auto pilot, which means it should have known better (given it is autonomous).

Drawing conclusions from the two recent events, it shows pedestrians, other human drivers and even test drivers are being made victims at the expense of testing the self driving cars.

If test after test is to be conducted for as long as possible or for as long as required, how many lives will be jeopardized in the long run?

Of course, the complete installation and use of self-driving cars will do everyone a measure of good, but then before the assurance of its safety can be given, do we keep losing lives?

According to Timothy Carone in Self-driving car accidents will keep happening. We need to learn from them, he said, “…There will inevitably be accidents during this transitional period. We won’t understand how they occurred nor will we be able to interrogate a self- driving car to ask why it drove off the bridge with the family of five in it. We will have to deal with more deaths and the destruction of property that to us appears unfair and arbitrary”. If one of the aim of the self-driving car is to see to ease in traffic and allows the car to be autonomous, is the constant loss of human lives and accidents then really worth it?

That more and more tests will be conducted overtime is certain, but if assurance can’t be given on the safety level then I think we should probably rethink accepting the tests on open roads and streets.

If the manufactures aren’t going to study and understand fully their cars and its defects then it is very advisable that they do not release it for test driving. This will help ensure that only cars certified to be free of defects are on the roads for test driving.

Complete control shouldn’t be by the car and the test driver should have a measured amount of control on the car in order to be able to use human reasoning and judgments where the car is lacking.

Proper investigations should be made in the case of accidents and erring manufacturers should be properly sanctioned.
The human life is a gift and should not be wasted on tests and try-outs.