*This Editor’s Note will appear in the July/August Edition of ECN.
As autonomous vehicles become more prominent in the news, so do the myths and misconceptions. Sure, autonomous vehicles are and will be disruptive to society, much like automobiles were in the late 1800s, however, we’ve fully evolved to accept and in some cases cherish our cars today, and the same will go for self-driving cars in the future.
Believe it or not, autonomous cars will make driving safer and more efficient. With this, I am here to debunk some of the myths and misconceptions that are floating about.
1. Autonomous vehicles won’t become a reality for like, years.
Of course there are technical challenges with the creation and evolution of autonomous cars, however, they’re workin’ on it. Who, you might ask? (See: page 10, page 14, and even page 17) From Google to Apple to Intel, Tesla, BMW, Audi, even Uber has been testing driverless cars in public. As of late, fully autonomous cars and buses are being trialed and tested in cities all around the world, and, if all goes as planned, we may even see self-driving cars on the road as early as 2018.
Semi-autonomous cars, however, are due to come even sooner. For instance, Tesla’s current Autopilot is considered a Level 2, meaning it requires constant human monitoring, but plans to have its Level 5 fully autonomous driving software update late in 2017. Once its Level 5 hits the ground running, Tesla cars will include additional cameras, ultrasonic sensors, a more powerful computer, and forward-facing radar.
2. Autonomous vehicles are not safe.
Fear is a very real thing. However, in the case of autonomous cars, fear not fellow friends, automating the not-so-simple task of driving will be safer without human error (no offense).
Of course we’ve all read an article or two about accidents involving self-driving cars, but, yet again, all signs (and evidence) point to the fact that autonomous driving is enormously safer to operate than cars driven by me, ehem, I mean humans. In fact, Google’s self-driving cars have been in 16 crashes in over two million miles and in every single crash, a human was to blame. Figures, huh?
I know it’s not always easy to throw caution to the wind and trust in the fact that driverless cars are the cars of the future, but it’s happening. Another thing that’s happening over here at Electronic Component News (ECN) is my departure. It’s never easy leaving behind such a boundless brand, a tireless team, and especially you, ECN’s remarkable readers, but I thank you immensely for listening and riding along with me during my time as Editor in Chief. It’s truly been a great ride.
All my best,
Janine