Skeptics Abound: A Look at Why Self Driving Cars Could be Potentially Dangerous

According to Google, the driverless car will reduce the number of car accidents experienced yearly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that the number of fatal crashes as well as how many can be blamed on excessive speed, inattention and alcohol is in the thousands annually. Based on the data, it would seem that Google is providing a very useful answer to address the problem of excessive crashes due to driver inexperience, inattention at the wheel and drowsy driving.

However, as with any new technology that pops up, there are skeptics who worry about the potential dangers that self-driving cars can present. Driverless vehicles will create new problems and could be potentially more dangerous than distracted driving. Read on to learn why self-driving cars could be potentially dangerous, and the details that are worrying current skeptics:

Malfunctions

When a vehicle malfunctions, you reduce speed and pull over to the side of the road quickly. In a driverless vehicle, a malfunction could catch the driver unaware. Supporters of the driverless vehicle have remarked that people could sleep on the way to work while the car does the driving. If there’s a malfunction and the driver is sleeping, there’s no way to quickly correct a malfunction or avoid an accident.

Roadway Disasters

The latest technology in the Google self-driving car will scan the roadway ahead for pedestrians and obstructions in the street, but the driverless vehicle won’t be able to make logical judgments of right and wrong. If you’re driving and a squirrel hops into the way, you can decide whether it’s more dangerous to keep going or swerve into the next lane to avoid the squirrel. The computer in the vehicle will not be able to make that judgment call.

According to professionals at the Ladah Law firm, these vehicles will also pose the problem of determining who is at fault during an accident. If the car is technically the driver, this could present some serious insurance issues in the future.

Hackers

The Google Driverless car utilizes computerized mapping, radar and cameras to operate the vehicle safely. There’s a computer on the vehicle, which leaves it open to hackers. New self-driving vehicles are being manufactured without steering wheels and pedals. This could make them dangerous since the driver has no way to take over for the computer if and when there is a hacker driving the car dangerously.

Criminals

If the self driving vehicle doesn’t need an operator, then the car can be used in criminal enterprise. In a recent FBI report, that factor was raised as a valid concern. For example, without the need for a driver, the car could be used to deliver bombs remotely. The FBI is also worried about the ability of criminals to multi-task while riding in a self-driving vehicle. Criminals will be able to shoot more accurately at the police or other drivers when the car is driving on its own.

It is important to keep in mind that these cars are still being heavily tested, and many of the bugs will be worked out before the vehicles actually hit the market. Many features are still in development, so some skeptics are jumping the gun by saying that driverless cars will be dangerous.

These concerns are valid, however, we will have to wait to see how the vehicles develop since many of these issues might be resolved by that time. While Google wants to focus on the pluses delivered by a self-driving vehicle, there are definitely minuses that need to be addressed before we’ll see more driverless vehicles introduced to the public.