Autonomous Cars Get Approval in Michigan
A series of bills have recently been signed into law by the governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, that will approve of the use of autonomous vehicles to drive on public roads in the state.
It also sets the groundwork for the potential introduction of a system of autonomous vehicles that provide paid rides to consumers; like that which Tesla has recently hinted at introducing as well, along with other well-known corporations.
The new rules in Michigan allow for vehicles to be driven that do not have any steering wheel or pedal, it authorizes ride-hailing, and more. And some are saying that these rules for autonomous vehicles are among the most permissive in the entire country.
This is the first state-wide comprehensive approval for legislation surrounding these types of vehicles.
However, Michigan isn't the first state in the U.S. to go ahead with making some changes in allowing these vehicles on the road, others have made similar changes as well, like Nevada, California, Washington D.C., Utah, Florida, and others.
How long might it be before we reach the point where the majority of vehicles on the road are being driven by themselves?
A number of benefits have been cited for the introduction of autonomous cars on the road: less accidents, reduced traffic congestion, lowered fuel consumption, lowered insurance costs, and more. The automotive market has evolved greatly over the past hundred years and we are now at a point where we could soon see a high prevalence of not only autonomous cars, but perhaps a system of flying cars soon as well.
If those autonomous vehicles are introduced, and we do see a variety of benefits, might we also eventually see the change toward criminalizing vehicles that are driven by humans? Tesla, Google, Uber, and others, are already well invested in the autonomous car space and it's only a matter of time before more states introduce legislation surrounding the regulation of these sorts of vehicles.
There are some concerns surrounding the autonomous vehicles. Such as, previous research like that which was released by Google showing that autonomous vehicles have been involved in several minor crashes. Another crash in a Tesla Model S electric car that was in autonomous driving mode, resulted in the death of its driver/passenger, after a tractor-trailer had made a left-turn in front of the Tesla vehicle and the Tesla failed to brake. That crash has been cited as the first known autonomous driving accident that has involved a fatality, and a formal investigation over the matter has already been launched.
Further research on this topic has also revealed that many people would not be willing to be driven in an autonomous vehicle which has been programmed with “utilitarian ethics” and that they were not in favor of regulations that would enforce these sorts of algorithms in autonomous cars on the road. Rather than be in a vehicle that would sacrifice the lives of those inside, to minimize the loss of those on the outside, drivers would rather be in a vehicle which is going to prioritize their own safety.
Despite the worries however, the technology behind the autonomous driving continues to move rapidly and the number of shipments is only expected to increase into the future.
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Sources:
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3149077/emerging-technology/michigan-to-allow-cars-without-drivers-or-steering-wheels-on-its-roads.html
http://qz.com/859705/michigans-new-self-driving-car-rules-are-great-unless-youre-a-tech-company/
http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/autonomous-vehicles-legislation.aspx
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/uber-proposes-jetsons-like-network-of-flying-cars
http://www.livescience.com/55273-first-self-driving-car-fatality.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/self-driving-and-fully-autonomous-car-problems-2016-4
so it'll be about ten years before manually operated vehicles are outlawed.
This is a huge step forward! I see a tremendous amount of benefits for self-driving cars. There will be no more drunk driving, no more distracted driving, and far fewer accidents. People spend a lot of their time every day driving, but with a self-driving car, they'll be able to be productive during that time. Furthermore, people are so stressed out and mad while driving; it seems like no where else they get as mad as when they're road raging. I think self driving cars will get rid of that stress and anger.
Of course we'll see accidents and failures of the automated systems at times. But engineers will learn from mistakes and over time we'll achieve much safer roadways.
I pretty sure we'll reach that stage in not to distant future but still a lot of work to be done. Personally, I think it's safer when all vehicles are autonomous than a mixture with manual. See what happened in Singapore test recently:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/driverless-car-collides-with-lorry-in-one-north/3215112.html