Driverless smart cars on smart roads to drive away the smart ones!

Driverless cars will hit the roads sooner or later. Let’s be prepared. Here are the 7 questions you should ask while buying one.
Self-driving cars are already here, but they have still drivers behind the wheel –and even though there is no need to touch the steering wheel while your car is on autopilot, there is a reason that driving drunk is still illegal!
Driverless cars (and by this, I mean fully autonomous cars without steering wheel or pedals), however, are on their way to accelerate the future.
First, of course, they will be used in commercial ride-hailing services, public transportation, trucks, logistics etc. General Motors claims its robot taxi services could be launched next year. It may take longer to sell autonomous cars to public (“By 2025,” according to Ford CEO.)
Yet, proven by experience, technology generally goes faster than predicted. So there is no reason not to get prepared by now. Here are the 4 questions you should ask a dealer while buying one.

1) Whose life will it save in traffic situations of unavoidable harm?
Here are the choices from Science magazine that a car might find itself in a position to decide between:
(A) killing several pedestrians or one passerby,
(B) killing one pedestrian or its own passenger,
(C) killing several pedestrians or its own passenger.
Before deciding in favor of a car, be sure to find out in favor of who it would decide.
I’m sure you want driverless cars to be as ethical as possible.
Do you?
Yes, sure, but except the one you are buying –online surveys conducted by Science magazine showed that people would rather stay alive.
(If you want to get to the core of this moral dilemma, you might want to learn more about the “trolley problem.” If you want to have some fun while doing so, check out The Good Place S02E05. The show is as funny as a sitcom about moral philosophy can be.)

2) Is there a way to introduce my children and loved ones to it?
Like by showing a photo of them! Not for the purpose of allowing them to control it, but in case the pedestrians in the above scenarios turn out to be one of them. Oh, remember to introduce yourself to it as well. Just in case!

3) What interior design features does it offer?
If you don’t have to sit behind the wheel, then you need a living room on wheels. Now, come to think of it, ask for a kitchen, bathroom and even a steam shower!

4) Is it vulnerable to hackers?
How likely is it that you would find yourself at the bottom of a sea as a victim of a cruel prank played by one of your overly competitive colleague while resting your eyes on the ride to your workplace? Worth knowing, right?

5) Why am I here?
Yes, it’s just occurred to you -or to me- that you are buying it from a dealer!
We are fantasizing about our future car, and yet are we still standing in a dealership showroom and trying to negotiate a better price?
Why can’t you buy it from the car maker itself or online? Because “the franchise laws that give the dealerships a virtual monopoly over new car sales” could be still in place in the United States by then. (If you want to learn more about the car dealerships and the tragicomic fact behind the concept of jaywalking, you might want to watch Adam Ruins Everything S01E03.)

6) Why do I still need insurance?
If this car is a whole lot safer and if it reduces accidents by 90%, can I take the risk of not having insurance?
No, but you will probably pay a lot less.

7) Why am I buying it!?!
Yeah, this is the ultimate question you must ask yourself because there might be no need to buy it at all. By the time driverless cars dominate the streets, you may want to use on-demand access at a fixed cost instead of buying one.