With transportation services like Uber and Lyft gaining massive popularity in recent years, it is only logical for people to look into driverless cars that can transport people safely to their destination. Surprisingly, while there has been some testing of autonomous vehicles, the general consensus has not been very hesitant on following through with this.
The reason why is because Robot drivers are strict rule followers. This has caused many human drivers to rear-end slow-moving or stopped self-driving cars, which account for most of the accidents. Also, there has been some fatalities involving fully autonomous cars. There was an accident that occurred in Arizona where police reports and video of the crash suggest a 49-year-old woman pushing a bike crossed a road in Tempe outside of a crosswalk around 10 p.m. Neither the self-driving sensors, nor the human safety driver, appeared to notice her and the car collided with her at 38 miles per hour without touching the brakes. She was rushed to a hospital, where she died of her injuries. Autonomous vehicle experts has stated the car’s sophisticated sensors should have detected the pedestrian and hit the brakes. But self-driving technology still struggles to distinguish pedestrians from inanimate objects like bushes or poles or bags that blow into the road. Lastly, in the cockpit video released by police, the human safety driver appears to be looking down before the crash, which may have prevented the pedestrian from being seen until it was too late.
While it looks like driverless vehicles/services won’t be on the market anytime soon, experts and engineers still believe employing autonomous vehicles can create a safer environment. According to the article written by Bloomberg Technology, U.S. safety regulators say 94 percent of crashes can be blamed on human error. And with smartphones distracting more drivers, U.S. road deaths surged 14 percent from 2014 to 2016. Meanwhile, robots are always alert and focused on the driving task. And advances in artificial intelligence can combine with on-road experience to make cars become even safer drivers over time.
In conclusion, there are some pros and cons regarding autonomous vehicles, it appears that these types of services will still have to clear through some hurdles. Due to numerous fatalities, Uber has decided to suspend its autonomous test program. Also, Arizona’s governor has banned Uber from operating autonomous cars on the state’s roads indefinitely, putting its ambitious plan to offer a robot taxi service to the public by year-end in jeopardy.
Questions:
1. How often do you use services like Uber or Lyft?
2. Do you prefer to have a human or a robot to be your driver?
3. Are you more or less likely to use the services like Uber or Lyft if they go “driverless”?
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-27/just-how-safe-is-driverless-car-technology-really-quicktake
https://www.forbes.com/sites/armstrongpaul/2018/04/25/the-futures-bright-for-electric-cars-says-superman-carlos-ghosn/#8ffa87841f4d
Since I was in freshman and sophomore, I used Uber and Lyft a lot. I believe if the technology is matured, many people are willing to use a robot as a driver. Sometimes human get tired during long term trip, and the robot wouldn't have that problem, and Uber/Lyft can be driveless as well.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3ELVACR2VY
This is a drive test of the Level 4-equipped Renault Symbioz. In the video, this car can define when to shift the lane and when need to park into a safe place, which is better than Telsa. I think if the technology can be increased in this level, then the autonomous driving can be safe.
I use both Uber and Lyft various times a month.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I do prefer to having a human over a robot driving. I enjoy meeting different drivers and finding out about how they got to Tucson and such. There was even a driver who I met prior while canvassing with him for a local campaign.
If Uber and Lyft go "driver-less" I will stick to using their apps. I assume they will offer the option of having an actual person drive or not. Although I would feel uneasy at first, I like the thought of embracing the future and trying out new technological advancements.
I probably use Uber (not a Lyft customer) about 3-4 times a month. Personally, I prefer to have a human as my Uber driver. I am the typical user who has conversations with the driver and wants to learn about that person during throughout ride, so deleting the "human" factor in a platform like Uber and Lyft would be my top preference. Considering the scenario of Uber and Lyft going "driverless", I believe I would definitely be hesitant of using their services at first. I think that I would be between the early majority and late majority stages from the innovation adoption curve, as I would prefer to learn from other customers' experiences about this change in service before trying it by my own.
ReplyDeleteI use Uber and Lyft approximately 3-4 times a month as well. I think that driverless vehicles will be here before we know it. In 2007 Apple released the first generation iPhone, and within a few years of its release, a smartphone has almost become a modern world necessity. Similarly, I think that driverless vehicles will become widely adopted both commercially and personally much quicker than we realize. While there are some kinks to work out in self-driving cars, I think they offer the best long-term solution in improving commutes and driving conditions. If Uber and Lyft were to use self-driving cars in their fleet of vehicles, I would be amazed because this would most likely mean safer rides, less variety in the drivers and even possibly cheaper rides (because they don't have to pay wages, just overhead, gas and recuperating the cost of the vehicle).
ReplyDeleteGreat post Wu! I tend to use lyft and uber a good amount, id say at least 4 to 7 times a week. Id perfer a robot driver for the safety however human drivers offer the ability to improvise. When a robot gets its directions it would just follow them even if you knew a better way or faster way or a side street, that is when a human would be ideal. I think the apps going driverless would scare me at first but i think id still use them the same amount
ReplyDeleteEric, well written post. I remember reading about the accident in Tempe and these cars, while incredible, create a ton of ethical dilemmas. Who do you think should be held responsible in the case of an accident if there is no driver? I have read many articles on this issue and another question that came up was: If someone walks in front of one of one of these cars is the cars loyalty to keeping the passenger of the car safe, as the car may have have to swerve putting the passenger in danger, or keeping the pedestrian safe? I believe these cars will come to market eventually but there are still many issues to figure out with them.
ReplyDelete