All posts tagged AV

Self-Driving Cars: What Can We Expect?

Talk about self-driving cars, also known as autonomous vehicles (AV), is nothing new. Depending on where you live, you’ve probably seen a few Google AVs driving around your neighborhood. While major auto manufacturers have a goal to get AVs on the road by 2020, it may be awhile before you can experience one.

Don’t know much about AVs or want to know the projected time in regards to self-driving cars? We’ll get you up-to-date about the cars of the future.

Why Choose Self-Driving Cars?

After over 100 years of driving the vehicles we know and love today, why make the switch to self-driving cars? One of the major pushes to put AVs on the road is to eliminate accidents and increase roadway safety.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), over 90 percent of car accidents are caused by human error. While road conditions and mechanical issues are at fault from time to time, drivers have become too hurried, too distracted, and too reckless.

Can self-driving cars really make our roads safer? Yes, as long as they are consistently better drivers than the average human driver.

Safety Features and the “Brain” of AVs

Self-driving cars will have the same safety features, such crash avoidance, and lane departure warnings, that are already present in some newer standard vehicles. In the cars we drive, currently, these features are supplemental and require human drivers to have full control.

In self-driving cars, these features must work flawlessly and without any interruption. Thanks to constant connectivity, the sensors that are always “reading” the environment, and the software installed to collect data and help make AVs better drivers, an AV will be safer.

Some Things to Consider

Despite the promising future of safer roadways, there are many things to sort out and think about before a mass release of self-driving cars. Will the technology behind AVs be secure? Who will be held liable in an accident with a self-driving car? Will the same laws apply to AVs?

Considering the cars we drive today, and laws surrounding them, it may take years to figure out legal issues regarding AVs.

When Will We Own Self-Driving Cars?

While there’s a very good chance that we will continue to see a slow increase of self-driving cars on our roads by 2020, you probably won’t own a self-driving car until 30 or 40 years from now. Why? First of all, the cost of an AV costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The sensor, one of the most components, can cost over $80,000 leaving the average cost of the AV around $250,000.

Since self-driving cars will need to be safer and smarter than today’s drivers, AVs must be able to handle any kind of roadway scenario, and it will take some time to get it right. Self-driving cars are and will be, without a doubt, a luxury and novelty (especially in the beginning), but if you’re like a majority of car owners, your top priority should always be safety.