Google has always been known for as a great search engine on the Internet and now it helps manage our lives with applications like Google maps, Google Translate and Google Drive. A person can do just about anything with Google except drive. Imagine a society where there are no traffic accidents and no speeding tickets or road rage, where cars drive themselves. Google is currently developing and testing this technology. Cars driving without a driver, it’s the start of a new era of vehicles.
The technology of the self-driving car created by Google is based on a Global Positioning System (GPS); this GPS is programed with the help of Google maps. It also uses artificial intelligence software (AI) that will detect anything close to the car and mimic decisions made by human drivers (Markoff, 2010). The Google car also uses automatic braking system (ABS), a special rangefinder and traction control for added safety. Self-driving cars are safer, allowing them to be built lighter, save fuel and driven closer together. This will allow more people to travel on the roads at one time (Markoff, 2010). This has the potential to save lives because 1.2 million lives are lost every year due to road traffic accidents, with this technology that number could be cut in half (“Google Developing Self-driving, 2013).
Although the technology is very advanced, a driver is still needed in the vehicle. Computers are not as reliable as we would like and in a self-driving car the computer may also encounter a problem, therefore a human driver would need to take control of the vehicle. A human driver also needs to put in the coordinates to the destination. Human drivers can benefit from the GPS in an unfamiliar location by putting the coordinates in the car and learning the new route.
Self-driving cars would be an advantage to people in the general public that have disabilities with sight, motor skills and attention deficit disorders. It would help people with these disabilities feel independent and safe for them and others. The elderly benefit because they have sight problems and not a quick reaction time, allowing them to get to appointments, the grocery or just travel and sight see. People who live in large cities or with long commutes to work will benefit from self-driving cars because it would allow them to sleep or eat breakfast on the way to their destination.
This car can serve as a plan B for some people, this refers to someone that cannot drive that needs to be somewhere, cannot find any one to give them a ride. Instead of waiting for a ride they can go by themselves in the automated car, so they will always have a ride. This vehicle could act almost as a delivery car too, someone that needs to deliver something to a family member or friend can just send the car without anyone in the vehicle and the only thing the person needs to do is put in the coordinates. The car can drive its self to a family member or friend’s house. The family member or friend just...
