Autonomous cars are just beginning to edge their way onto the roads, but soon, they could replace human drivers altogether.
And in some areas, it could happen just five years from now.
Advocates for autonomous vehicles have proposed a shift toward ‘driver-free zones,’ starting by banning human motorists from car-pool lanes on a 150-mile stretch of Interstate 5 between Seattle and Vancouver.
Within a decade, researchers say self-driving cars could have full reign of these roads during peak hours.
Many experts now argue that autonomous technology could make the streets far safer in the future by eliminating human error, Bloomberg Technology reports.
While humans can become distracted behind the wheel and drive drunk or tired, autonomous cars lack these shortcomings.
‘Long term, these vehicles will drive better than any human possibly can,’ Danny Shapiro, senior director of automotive at Nvidia Corp told Bloomberg, noting that this technology has ‘superhuman intelligence.’
‘We’re not there yet, but we will get there sooner than we believe.’
In a new proposal revealed this week, experts call for the integration of well-defined, driver-free zones that could do away with human drivers in congested city centers within five years.
These areas would be digitally mapped and provide autonomous cars with long-range vision and 360-degree view, Kristin Schondorf, executive director of automotive transportation at EY and a former engineer at Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, told Bloomberg.
But while many get behind the movement toward autonomous driving, others argue that that driverless cars come with risks as well.
These computer-based cars could break down, and may be inadequate in poor weather.
Along with this, they might not understand human gestures.
The advocates, however, argue that these risks further highlight the need to remove humans from the roadways.
This recent proposal comes just as the US government has provided a glimpse at the guidelines that could soon let self-driving cars take to the streets.
Officials say the use of this technology could save time, money, and lives – and the idea is even backed by President Obama.
Self-driving cars ‘have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives each year,’ President Barack Obama wrote in an statement published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
And, he explained, autonomous vehicles could change the lives of the elderly and disabled who are currently unable to drive.
'Safer, more accessible driving. Less congested, less polluted roads. That's what harnessing technology for good can look like,' Obama wrote.
'We have to get it right. Americans deserve to know they'll be safe today even as we develop and deploy the technologies of tomorrow.'
