Do you remember the time when car companies used to tell us stories about the future of cars? These companies painted wild pictures of a perfect world with supercars. They said that human life would be incredibly relaxed and nothing short of heavenly.
You would have your trusted self-driving car whenever you are tired and need to get to a super important meeting. If you need to be somewhere urgently, your supercar will get you there safely. They also said that these cars would put a stop to all roadside accidents.
Unsplash | Road safety is very important
What do the scientists say?
A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) revealed that if car designers try to include human behavior into these supercars, they will be able to prevent one-third car crashes only.
In order to reach this conclusion, a research team led by Dr. Alexandra Mueller studied 5000 car crashes. The team found that the driver’s’ mistakes had caused the accident in 94% of the cases.
Then, they divided their many mistakes into five categories, including unlawful driving, not recognizing road risks, drinking alcohol while driving, poor vehicle control, or misjudgment of other car’s behavior.
Unsplash | The smallest of mistakes can cause a car accident
The researchers claimed that self-driving cars are designed to behave as human beings would so only car crashes caused by drinking while driving can be prevented. Therefore, they would continue to make errors in decision-making that becomes a cause for regular car accidents as well.
Furthermore, while coming into contact with human drivers, these systems will be unable to process how to interact. How these self-driving systems would react to a human driver on the road still remains unpredictable. The team tested this hypothesis through Google’s self-driving cars were hit by human drivers on multiple occasions due to their incalculable movements.
Unsplash | Safety comes before convenience or speed preference
The study revealed that these car systems don’t need to be convenient or speedy. Instead, manufacturers need to design their cars in a manner that prioritizes safety, to operate successfully in the world.
On any account, the creation of auto-vehicles involves prioritizing human safety to a very high level. Accordingly, to restrict roadside accidents by self-driving cars, it is imperative to emphasize on its safety features. Human beings can manage without the convenience and speed ones.