Review Of Safety Of Driverless Cars By NRC

Review Of Safety Of Driverless Cars By NRCThe potential for developing driverless cars is tremendous, as many people are realizing. But a recent study on safety of driverless cars by the National Research Council (NRC) has concluded that there is much work to be done before we can have such vehicles operating on our roads. In fact, this very research paper discusses the need for improving the overall safety of driverless cars before the public ever has them on the road.The NRC report on safety of driverless cars is interesting because it takes a very measured approach to addressing the questions of whether or not driverless cars will be safe or unsafe. It does not make a call in either direction, but it points out the potential for both upsides and downsides to driverless cars.The NRC report begins with the statement, 'Many researchers and policy makers now believe that there will be a significant decrease in fatalities associated with automobile accidents when driverless vehicles be come part of the transportation system.' In other words, many experts believe that drivers won't die on the roads in the future because of driverless cars. However, they also agree that when the driverless car crashes, they'll be the ones who lose the most. Thus, they make the clear statement that this isn't a foregone conclusion.The NRC report also acknowledges the problem of increased cost to society with increased safety. They cite concerns about how driverless cars will increase congestion and how new highways may need to be built and maintained at a higher cost. They also point out that many new cars are currently driving on highly congested roads and highways in today's world. This is especially true for the smaller vehicles like cars and trucks that often fail to meet safety standards.As far as safety goes, the NRC paper also warns, 'The most important challenge may be developing a new set of safety standards that will be applied to all driverless vehicles.' They point out th at current regulatory requirements are designed to ensure safety of vehicles in their current forms. Thus, they argue that when regulations are needed for future versions of driverless cars, it may not be easy to develop. As a result, the ability of such vehicles to operate safely on public roads could be compromised.Further, the NRC paper admits that some problems may arise from the system being tested, but they argue that these will only need to be solved in some cases. For example, the designers of the 'safety pilot project' may be able to fix a few issues before the systems come to market. These include the fact that sensors that were installed in the vehicle to help the vehicles control their acceleration and deceleration may not be working properly.While this was a somewhat extreme example of potential safety issues, the fact that there may be situations where human error will not be the cause of the problem is also an issue. Still, it is unclear whether all driverless cars wi ll be error free. It would seem that even a fully automated vehicle will need someone in the driver's seat to take over in certain circumstances. Thus, there may be situations where human error is unavoidable, even with systems that are extremely secure.Thus, the NRC's research paper on the safety of driverless cars is a useful source of information for individuals interested in learning more about the issues surrounding the future of driverless cars. They acknowledge the potential for increased safety and that there will always be downsides. In order to minimize the potential for these negative aspects, we will need to address the issues as they are raised.