Imagine driving your car with no steering wheel, breaks, or even a gas pedal. Oh, and not needing to even drive at all, because your car will control the driving for you.
Sounds similar to the space age, right?
You have probably seen self-driving cars in science fiction movies, thinking they are far from reality.
Google is now transforming the way we travel, since they unveiled the model for their self-driving car.
How it works
Google’s self-driving car will use buttons instead of a steering wheel, breaks, and gas pedal. Buttons will be used for making the car stop and go and there will be a screen for viewing the route. The driverless technology will have sensors to detect objects in every direction from up to 200 yards away. The vehicle will also have a speed limit of 25 mph for the time being due to safety reasons.
Safety
Although, Google believes it will make the roads a safer place overall, a main concern that consumers have for this new innovation is how safe it really is. Letting a vehicle that is pretty much a robot, take control of the driving takes a lot of trust.
About 1 million people are killed every year from car accidents. Accidents happen every day from things such as drunk driving, texting at the wheel, dozing off, reckless driving, etc. Since a self-driving car doesn’t have to worry about any of that, they could possibly be better drivers than humans.
Time Saver
Time will no longer be wasted trying to find a parking spot and more time will be available to get work done while getting to your destination. The average American spends 101 minutes a day driving, according to a study by Harvard Health Watch. Imagine what you could do with all of that extra time.
Increased Mobility
One of the main benefits with Google’s driverless technology is providing more mobility to those that are unable to operate a car due to disabilities. Could self-driving cars replace the need for wheelchair van conversions? Or will Google’s driverless vehicles cost a fortune?
Moving Forward
A price range has not yet been determined for Google’s self-driving vehicle, but they are in the process of building 100 models of their self-driving car to be tested this summer.
So out with the old and in with the new? Do you think driving a car will eventually become a thing of the past? Share your thoughts!