It is dollars for doughnuts that the self-driven cars are going to take the world by storm, and Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Total Recall fiction will soon become a reality. Optimists are waiting with abated breathe for the eventuality to occur sooner then later. While the over enthusiastic British authorities have announced that if not sooner, by 2015 its three cities are geared up to welcome the self driving cars. These cars will be armed with innovative technologies, which do not require human interference, and the software follows the preset parameters to redefine the old concept of a functioning car.
Now, an apple had not suddenly fallen on Google’s head when it unveiled its version of self-driving cars in May and shouted Eureka. The fascination for autonomous cars had caught on with humans from 1920's and 30's. Then since 1980's many car manufacturing companies including Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Audi, General Motors, Bosch, Volvo, etc. joined the race to make it a reality. In 2010 with the backing of European Union, University of Parma in Italy developed four vans which test drove from Italy to China.
There is a scramble by legislatures around European countries and US states to create laws to make self driving cars acceptable in our society. After Google’s self driving car recently completed 1 million miles without a snag, Nevada and California could not resist passing laws to accommodate the self driving cars on its streets. And it seems other states will follow suit, a refreshing change for Americans as different states are rarely on the same page.
Days are not far when self driven cars will take over all transportation services. Can’t take away the utility of public transportation services, but it is not for all as they are not easily reachable to many, and for people running against the clock to meet their deadlines they are time consuming.
The self driving cars can become hot cakes of the future as safety is one the attractions of these robotic cars. As there are no emotional factors in its driving protocols, human errors which result in accidents will be out of the equation. It is estimated the number of deaths from automobile accidents annually is staggering 33,000 in the US, and to smoke your ears further nearly 40% of them are the result of DUI or fatigue. Hence self driving cars are going to be a Holy Grail for old, handicapped, and punch drunks.
People will no longer have to keep their eyes rounded and wide open watching out for clumsy drivers and the traffic will be well organized. The traffic congestion will be tremendously eased as the automated cars will make optimal use of the road space and will exhibit more efficiency in navigation than humans.