In March 2018, there was an accident in which a pedestrian was killed by an autonomous vehicle- or, better known as, a self-driving car. It is said to be the first reported fatal crash involving a self-driving car and a pedestrian, according to a news article published in March of 2018, on the Guardian website.  Recently, the idea of this type of vehicle has been on the rise. Multiple news agencies have covered the topic, whether it be through video clips or articles, and various research studies have also been conducted. It seems as if our ever-advancing society can’t stop looking ahead to the future, which is entirely understandable. Although self-driving vehicles will be a part of our society one way or another, I believe that we should take a step back, think and delay this new vision of our future. After being informed of autonomous vehicles history, we can see that the public isn’t ready. Self-driving cars will not eliminate accidents and they will negatively affect our jobs and employment.

First, self-driving cars have a rather long history, despite seemingly transforming from fiction to reality within just a few years. A ThoughtCo article titled The History of Self-Driving Cars states, “The dream of a self-driving automobile goes as far back as the middle ages, centuries prior to the invention of the car.” Yet, driverless cars did not make any major advancements until the Houdina Radio Control Company made the first public demonstration of one in 1925, according to the same ThoughtCo article. This initiated action and determination into making this dream more of a reality. As new technology started developing, the idea gained both positive and negative popularity. According to The National website, as of 2013, major automotive manufacturers, like BMW, began testing self-driving vehicles and since then, it seems that nothing involving the creation and advancement of self-driving vehicles has stopped. That is, until the fatal accident in March 2018 occurred. It was this event that sparked a lot of controversy and posed the startling question: Should we rely on autonomous vehicles?

With that question in mind, the public isn’t ready for self-driving cars. At this point in time, our society isn’t completely sold with the idea. In an Auto Insurance article tilted 20 Pros and Cons Associated With Self-Driving, a report showed that the majority of individuals were anxious about giving up control to a vehicle. To add, a research survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, according to the City Lab website, “...revealed that more than half of the American public would be worried about riding in an autonomous vehicle due to concerns over safety and lack of control.” The fear of not having any control is a rather large factor when figuring out why many currently aren’t fond of self-driving cars, but it isn’t the only reason. Safety plays a major role, along with doubts about the computer programming. A September 2017 article, found on the Wired website, informs its audience of the disturbing fact that self-driving cars will decide who dies in accidents. Nobody knows how these self-driving cars will react to possible accidents and there is controversy over how the vehicles should respond in accidents. Another source from the Popular Mechanics website states, “Perhaps the biggest issue of self-driving cars lies in their inability to make moral and ethical decisions for which humans drivers have so far been almost entirely responsible.” This shows that in the end, it boils down to whether or not we will trust these vehicles more than ourselves- and as we already know, the case of accidents involving self-driving cars cannot be avoided.
To continue, this type of vehicle doesn’t eliminate the likelihood of accidents at all. The main goal behind the production of self-driving cars is to prevent and reduce accidents, not get rid of them. Self-driving cars can also make people wonder if artificial intelligence will do any better. “Today, autonomous vehicles are about as a good as a standard crappy driver,” states an article on the Wired website, as of November 2017. According to the NHTSA website, 94% of accidents are caused by human error- so if we take human error out of the equation, there will be significantly less accidents, right? Human error can be a number of things, but in instances like driving, it usually means distraction. One would think that by using artificial intelligence to control a vehicle, it would eliminate distraction.  This is not true. An article published in April 2018 on the Reuters website mentions the Arizona accident that happened in March, stating: “Video of the crash, taken from inside the vehicle, shows the driver at the wheel, who appears to be looking down and not at the road.” This proves that just because a vehicle would be operating alone doesn’t mean that the driver shouldn’t be paying attention. In fact, this reason can give people a false sense of security, since they might not think that there is any need to still pay attention. I believe even more accidents might occur due to self-driving vehicles because people will be more distracted. However, these cars may also start a new conflict with the public that doesn’t involve road accidents at all.

Next, autonomous vehicles can and will take away from the general public in a variety of ways- the most major one being our jobs. These would include taxi drivers and freight transportation. An article on the DMV states, “A new report revealed by Goldman Sachs states that self-driving cars and trucks could withdraw a total of 25,000 jobs per month or 300,000 per year in the United States.” While our country is focusing on lowering the unemployment rate, we also have companies manufacturing these self-driving vehicles- that have the potential to take away so many jobs- at the same time. In my personal opinion, self-driving cars will affect the driving experience as a whole. According to the Auto Insurance article, Driver’s Ed courses would lose money because there wouldn’t be much of a need to teach people how to drive. This goes to show that autonomous vehicles will have an impact on everyone in our society, whether it be for the better or for the worse.

To conclude, self-driving cars pose multiple downsides, which include people not being prepared due to lack of trust, the fact that these vehicles do not eliminate accidents entirely and that they have the ability to take away from our jobs and employment. With this in mind, we can see that we should stop, think, and delay this glorious, yet concerning dream of ours. Although no one knows what the future has in store, we do know about the past accidents that involved and death with self-driving cars. We must keep those events in the back of our mind as we look toward the future. We must focus on the bigger picture- before this rising idea becomes a reality faster than anyone can handle.