Self driving vehicles are no longer an idea of the future. Various reports indicate that 90% of all car accidents are caused by operator error and self driving cars will help reduce the number of vehicle accidents.
But is this true?
Although driverless cars will most likely never be accident free, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says there have been various strides taken by automakers to focus on many new systems to help significantly reduce crash rates. Some of the systems include detection systems that alert drivers to potential hazards as well as back up cameras that are being installed to create safer measures for the self-driving vehicle.
Business Insider says that the biggest benefits of self driving cars are they will make roads safer and people’s lives easier. In the United Kingdom, KPMG estimates self driving cars will lead to 2500 fewer deaths between the years 2014 to 2030.
Dr. Dean Bushey of Florida Polytechnic University says self driving vehicles will not only be safer, but that they will continue to help with traffic congestion due to distracted drivers, road ragers, tailgaters and slow drivers.
“The safety factor is big,” says Bushey. “You can take your eyes off the road, maybe answer your phone or text, and the car is going to be there to back you up, as a co-pilot-as a driver.”
Government regulators, the general public and automakers continue to ask: How safe is safe enough when it comes to self driving vehicles? With 35,000 traffic deaths that occurred in the U.S in 2015, can self driving cars lower this number in the future?
Only time will tell.