October 4, 2023

Janessa Angela Alerre

10th Grade

George Washington High School

Self-Driving Cars and Their History 

Self-driving cars, or robotic cars, are vehicles that are capable of traveling without human intervention. They are nothing new in today’s society -  the concept of an autonomous vehicle dates back to the 1900’s. In 1925, an electric engineer from New York, Francis Houdina, was the first to apply the idea of an autonomous vehicle, a car controlled through a remote. The prototype was displayed to the public in Manhattan and traveled roughly 19 kilometers between Fifth Avenue and Broadway before colliding with another vehicle and deviating from its intended course. A few decades later, the father of the autonomous vehicle, Ernst Dickmanns, converted a Mercedes-Benz Van into an independent car by guiding it with a computer. In 1987, the car traveled through traffic-free streets at a speed of 63 kilometers per hour. Although the idea of self-driving cars has existed for decades, it is crucial to fully understand their systems, risks, concerns, and benefits to society. 

Levels of Autonomy

Six levels of autonomy have been defined and categorized by SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers). No-driving automation, or level 0, places the car in the hands of the driver. The car does, however, have momentary driving assistance including emergency safety measures and warning signals. Level one - driver assistance, where the car has an imprinted system that continuously assists the driver during acceleration, braking, and steering. Partial-driving automation is level two - a portion of today’s autonomous vehicles fall under this category. At this level, the vehicle has advanced driver assistance systems; controlling the steering, acceleration, and deacceleration of the vehicle. Level three, conditional driving automation, can recognize the environment and make knowledgable choices for itself but requires a human to oversee the vehicle. Thus, the driver must remain attentive and ready to take over the vehicle if the system is unable to properly perform a task. Level four, high driving automation, has a crucial difference between level three; the vehicle is responsible for all driving decisions. In this level, human interaction is not necessary in most circumstances, but the human still has the choice to manually override. Vehicles of this level can only operate in a limited area until legislation and infrastructure expand. Lastly, in level five, full driving automation, vehicles will not have steering wheels or acceleration/braking pedals. Hence, human attentiveness is not necessary, for the vehicle will be able to do everything that an experienced human driver can do. Although there are no level 5 autonomous vehicles exposed to the general public, fully autonomous vehicles are being tested around the world. 

The Future - Pros and Cons of Self-Driving Cars

According to The Global Forecast study, the market for self-driving cars is predicted to increase from 20.3 million units in 2023 to 62.4 million units by 2030. Nonetheless, the ongoing development of self-driving cars leaves people feeling skeptical, or optimistic about the future. For instance, the pros of self-driving cars include reduced traffic and environmental benefits, and it is more inclusive to seniors and people with disabilities. A self-driving car’s ability to communicate with each other is one of its main advantages, for it can move efficiently at ideal distances from one another. Hence, it can reduce traffic and decide the optimum route for you to follow to avoid gridlocked traffic. Additionally, autonomous vehicles will most likely be electric instead of using internal combustion engines, reducing carbon emissions and the amount of fuel we use. They will also be more inclusive and enhance independence for seniors and people with disabilities, allowing them to travel on their own without driving. However, concerns and skepticism are still present about its machinery and systems. For instance, the possibility of hacking a car’s systems could have a huge impact, causing collisions and gridlock traffic. to ensure that no dangerous occurrences happen in the future, self-driving cars are being tested and are still in the development process.