Essay Sample on Driverless Cars

Driverless cars are not yet ready to debut on major highways and roadways. Technology is playing a major role in our day to day societies. More and more technology enhancements happen daily and a new product comes out to make our lives “easier”. Yet, driverless cars are not ready for their debut. 

Driverless cars are based on a computer programming system, therefore, a computer can be hacked into, malfunction, and need to be recharged. If a driverless car gets hacked into, the hacker can change the settings that the operator programmed into the operating system. According to the article “Get Ready for Roadway Robots”, “While drivers may have the option to take over the controls during extreme scenarios, the car itself will make command decisions the majority of the time.” On that account, if the autonomous car malfunctions the car will break down because the driverless car is making decisions by itself. Since the driverless car is a battery powered vehicle, it will need to be recharged. So, we would have to build recharging stations every few feet, that would kill the economy. 

Driverless cars claim that they help avoid accidents and driver errors. But, if the car breaks down in the middle of a busy highway, the car behind it will most likely ram into the back, and potienlly cause a pileup collision. According to the article “Putting the brakes on Driverless Cars”, “A human driver can at least make the distinction between a pedestrian and a cardboard box, for instance. The driverless car cannot do this on its own.” For that reason, a smart car will not be programmed to look at an object two hundred feet in front of them and be able to stop or keep going. 

Driverless cars are the way to go for the future. Autonomous cars will be able to get from place A to place B in a safe and timely manner. The driver can simply sit back and relax. According to “Get Ready for Roadway Robots”, “Newer technology means cleaner emissions and a more smoothly running highway system.” Therefore, cleaner air would come along with driverless cars. However, if the so-called driver is just sitting and relaxing, then they are more likely to be less aware of their surroundings than if they were physically driving. 

In conclusion, driverless cars are not ready to debut on major highways and roadways. Driverless cars malfunction, get hacked, and need to recharge. Autonomous cars cause hazardous conditions and put lives at risk. Driverless cars are not safe for mass production and driving on busy highways, especially if human lives are at risk.