You’re Going to Lose Your Job
For some of you, this is not a happy subject. If you’re a driver for Uber, Lyft, or Taxi, your days are numbered. The same goes for truck drivers and delivery people. The question is just exactly when your job will be gone.
It won’t happen overnight, because there still aren’t enough autonomous vehicles on the road yet to make it safe to remove humans from the equation altogether. Some have estimated that until there are millions of self-driving cars on the roads, they won’t become safer than human drivers (and even then only by an extremely slim margin). But one way or another, sooner or later it will happen—human drivers will no longer be necessary to operate a vehicle. That means millions of jobs lost unless other jobs replaced them first (which they will).
Driverless cars will be safer, more efficient, and more reliable than human drivers.
We live in the future, and it’s not so bad. Self-driving cars will do more than make our lives easier; they’ll save lives, make the commute quicker, and improve our quality of life in other ways. Take a look at the numbers:
A report by research firm IHS Automotive estimates that 25 percent of all accidents are caused by driver error. Driverless cars will eliminate many of those crashes, as well as speeding violations and other infractions. As a result, traffic fatalities will plummet—and not just because people won’t be so distracted by their phones or behind the wheel for extended periods of time.
There Will Be Fewer Cars On the Road.
There’s a common misconception that driverless cars will be larger, more comfortable, and even fancier than the average car today. These people are wrong. Driverless cars will actually be smaller than most of the cars on the road today.
These driverless cars will not be owned by individuals but instead operated by ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft. The idea is to make money off of each vehicle, so they need to be out picking up passengers more often than not. And because they won’t necessitate a garage or driveway to park in at night, they’ll need to circle through neighborhoods looking for customers until it’s time to go back to the depot for maintenance and cleaning.
The result is going to be fewer vehicles on our roads altogether. This means fewer traffic jams and better commute times (no more stuck in traffic). It also means we’ll no longer need parking lots as much as we do now since vehicles won’t have downtime between rides.
Health Care Costs Will Go Down.
>Accidents will become rare
>Relative accident frequency will decrease
>Insurance costs will drop
>The cost of emergency services will go down
>Ambulance operating costs will be reduced
>Hospital and clinic operating costs will decrease
Traffic Congestion Will Decrease in Urban Areas.
You’ve sat in it. You may even have done so today: that endless, soul-crushing, bumper-to-bumper traffic jam caused by an excessive number of cars on the road. A few decades ago these massive snarls were rare but now they’re a daily occurrence in most cities around the world. And they’re not just unpleasant to sit in: traffic congestion costs drivers and their employers serious money, adds hours to journeys and pollutes the air we breathe.
The best solution to this urban nightmare is self-driving cars that can communicate with each other, travel at a consistent speed and avoid accidents or unexpected delays caused by human error. However smart our brains are, we humans still can’t stop ourselves from making frequent mistakes behind the wheel (and there are over 1 million fatalities worldwide every year as a result of these foolish decisions). Self-driving cars will also be able to travel much closer together than human drivers ever could: because they won’t have to leave any space between them for human error, traffic jams will disappear as more vehicles fit on roads at any given time.
Parking Lots Will Get Smaller… Or Disappear Altogether.
Because parking lots take up expensive urban land, and because they’re often a place where cars are just sitting around doing nothing, they could be shrunk down or done away with altogether. For example, driverless cars may be able to drive themselves to and from locations without human drivers. Companies like [ZipCar](https://www.zipcar.com/how-it-works) are already offering a similar service in some cities that enables drivers to rent a car by the hour when they need it. Since these cars will drive themselves once you’re done using them, imagine how much smaller those rental lots could get if there’s no need for drivers to park their own vehicles there at the end of the day!
In fact, if we can get our roads and freeways smart enough so that all driverless cars can communicate with each other, it might even be possible for parking lots to disappear altogether–otherwise known as “[eliminating friction](https://www.inc.com/john-lincoln/remove-friction-from-your-business-now.html)” in business terms. This would give us more space for parks and housing in urban areas and less time spent looking for parking spots in downtowns–and who doesn’t want that?
We’ll Become an Even More Mobile Nation.
If you think about it, our cars and trucks are sitting idle most of the time, a fact that makes them a colossal waste of resources. A single driverless car could meet many people’s needs at all times while being driven far more efficiently. The average person is in his or her car less than an hour per day, leaving 23 hours for the vehicle to do other things—like transport other people. Report after report has shown that driverless vehicles would be safer than human-driven ones and would use far less fuel. This means fewer accidents and injuries on the roads and less greenhouse gas emissions from personal transportation, which is responsible for about 28 percent of all U.S. emissions annually—more than any other sector except electricity production (33 percent). If we switched to fully autonomous vehicles powered by readily available electricity instead of fossil fuels, we’d cut those greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 11 percent overnight (not counting all the additional energy required to manufacture new vehicles).
Public Transportation Will Get a Big Boost.
Driverless cars will also make public transportation more convenient. Instead of walking several blocks to the nearest subway stop, or waiting for a bus, residents in certain areas will be able to summon a driverless car from their cell phone that can take them directly to their destination. For those who need to pick up groceries or go shopping, driverless cars will serve as an extra set of hands, allowing people to return home with their purchases without needing help from someone else.
Driverless cars will not only make public transportation more convenient for everyone; it’ll also make it more popular and reliable. Driverless vehicles will become so prevalent that people may choose public transit over driving themselves because they provide a better experience than traditional methods of travel. If the technology is reliable enough—meaning you don’t have to worry about your driverless car breaking down on the side of the road—then more people will use public transportation as an alternative mode of traveling instead of relying on their own vehicles all the time.
The Tension Between Personal Privacy and Security and a More Connected World Will Grow Stronger.
As we become increasingly interconnected and reliant on technology, the value of freedom from intrusion by others will come into stark conflict with the potential benefits offered by this new era. Driverless cars, which rely on sophisticated cameras and lasers to scan the environment around them, will inevitably collect more data than today’s automobiles. The more data that is collected about us, the more it can be used to affect our lives.
As more people get involved in driverless cars, there will also be a need for transparency in how they are designed and what they are capable of doing. It is not enough to know how a driverless car performs on a straightaway or even how it reacts in an emergency situation; we also need to understand what happens when it encounters a situation that is not explicitly covered in its coding.
Driverless Cars Make Teens Happy, Parents Relieved. (And Crashes Fewer) Maureen Kelleher, EdSurge, June 3, 2016
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Driverless cars will ultimately change every aspect of our lives for the better
The introduction of driverless cars is going to have dramatic positive effects on the health, safety, and efficiency of our society.
- Health: Right now in America, obesity rates are growing exponentially due to the lack of physical activity caused by sedentary lifestyles. Self-driving cars will remove the need for us to sit in a car for hours every day and give us opportunities to exercise more and be healthier.
- Safety: The government estimates that 94% of car accidents are caused by human error – which means driverless cars will go a long way toward eliminating accidents from our roads and highways.
- Efficiency: Currently 40% of urban space in U.S cities is devoted to parking lots, but driverless cars won’t even need a parking lot because they’ll drop you off at work or school and then drive somewhere else until they’re needed again – meaning we can use these huge areas for something else!
You might have heard the rumors that self-driving cars are going to take our jobs away from us.
Well, I’m here to tell you that’s not true. They’re going to give us more jobs than we’ve ever had in human history.
Hear me out: A lot of you guys will be drivers, and with artificial intelligence taking over the driver’s seat, you’ll be free to work on something else while you’re stuck in traffic. That means more productivity for your business and more innovation for society. And all because of these new cars!
That’s just one example of how self-driving cars are going to change our economy for the better. More people will be able to get around easier, which means they can find better jobs, and the companies they work for can make a bigger impact on their communities.
With self-driving cars, everyone wins: The economy is boosted, everyone gets where they need to go easier and faster, and we become a more productive and efficient society as a result.
So don’t fear the future—embrace it!
In this episode of Ask A Driver, we’re joined by Tawnya Jennings, the driverless cars expert. We’ll discuss the ramifications of self-driving cars on society and how they will change our lives for the better.
We’re joined today by Tawnya Jennings, the driverless cars expert. Tawnya, you’ve written extensively about self-driving cars and their impact on society. I think many of our readers are curious: What exactly are driverless cars?
Tawnya: Thanks for having me! It’s great to be here today. Driverless cars are just like your typical car, except they don’t have a human driver behind the wheel. They’re equipped with technology that allows them to move without human input—they can drive themselves to their destination and back again without anyone inside directing them where to go.
That sounds incredible! How do you think driverless cars will change society?
Tawnya: I think we’ll see a lot more jobs become available as a result of this technology being commonplace. For instance, if you own a restaurant, you’ll no longer need to hire employees to deliver food—driverless cars will be able to handle the job instead. This means that there will be more money available for
If you’re a driver, you might be wondering if your job is in danger. The answer is: yes.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Imagine: it’s late at night, and you’re tired from a long day of work. You’re on the road, but nothing is going to keep you from getting home safely—and quickly—because the car knows exactly how to navigate the streets and get you there as efficiently as possible. Not only that, but it can pick up your groceries for you on the way.
It’s a beautiful dream, isn’t it? That’s what driverless cars are going to bring us: more time for family, less hassle when traveling to new places, and better economy overall. They will not only make our lives easier, they’ll make them better!
There’s a lot we can talk about when it comes to driverless cars. How they’ll improve our economy. How they’ll make our roads safer. But we know you’re curious about what this means for you, and your job.
We’re here today to tell you: don’t worry!
There are plenty of jobs coming in the near future that will allow you to utilize your skills in the workforce. While it’s true that there will be no need for drivers when driverless cars hit the market, here are three jobs that are predicted to do well in the future.
1) Truck drivers
With more people getting their goods delivered, now is a great time to get into truck driving! Plus, with shorter trips and more sleep at night, you’ll be able to enjoy your life on the road more than ever before.
2) Construction workers
As more people move out of cities and into the suburbs, there will be an increased demand for new homes and infrastructure! That means more construction workers will be needed!
3) Biomedical engineers
Technology is going to continue making strides in healthcare. We’ll need even more biomedical engineers working on these projects so we can live longer, healthier lives!
You’re probably here because you love driving. And we get it: there’s no feeling like cruising the open roads, windows down and radio up, with nary a soul in sight. But the truth is, if you haven’t noticed already, those cruising days are numbered.
It’s not that the roads are getting any less open, it’s just that… well, they’re going to be getting a lot less crowded.
That’s right: your days of chugging along at 55mph on the highway as you watch everyone else whoop by you at 80mph are over.
We know what you’re thinking: “With self-driving cars? I don’t see how that’ll ever happen!”
But we’ve got news for you: it already has. And we’ve got even better news for you: driverless cars aren’t just going to change how fast you drive on the highway—they’re going to change society as a whole.
Self-driving cars are finally coming, and they’re going to change the world in ways we can barely imagine.
Before long, you’re going to have your own self-driving car in your life—whether it’s a personal vehicle or a taxi that takes you to work every morning. When you do, there’s no question that your life will be better.
Here’s why:
You’ll never have to deal with traffic jams again. Self-driving cars will communicate with one another to make sure they’re all moving in an efficient manner, which could mean the end of traffic jams as we know them. You’ll never have to worry about getting lost again. Self-driving cars will use GPS and other location data to make sure you’re always on the right track and get where you need to go with minimal hassle. You’ll never get stuck behind a slow driver again. Self-driving cars will be able to pick up on important indicators like how fast drivers go and their body language, so no more getting stuck behind someone who drives 5 miles per hour under the speed limit!