We all know that self-driving car proponents argue the autonomous car technology is meant to neutralize human error. This, they say, prevents accidents. Unfortunately, accidents still happen to autonomous cars.
A recent report from Allianz Global Assistance shows that despite proponents’ arguments, only 52 percent of Americans are confident about self-driving tech. They believe the system will not be widely available. And perhaps, they are right. Recently, General Motors put a hold on its plans to test their autonomous cars in New York City.
In California, GM’s Cruise division is one of the leaders in the industry when it comes to crashes, along Google’s Waymo.
Waymo’s numbers are particularly troubling, as California officials reported 32 crashes involving the self-driving project. And the Cruise is in an even greater number of crashes, with officials reporting 52 accidents involving the GM self-driving tech in San Francisco alone. Reports show that’s the highest number of crashes among any automaker testing in the Golden State.
Zoox vehicles, also autonomous, crashed five times while Apple’s self-driving cars crashed twice. Toyota and Drive.ai vehicles crashed once each.
In addition to these accidents, who could forget the Tesla Model X crash that resulted in a death? The vehicle’s Autopilot system was on at the time of the crash. Still, self-driving car proponents say that Tesla’s Autopilot isn’t fully autonomous.
Despite the high number of collisions, experts say that they are often harmless as they happen while the vehicles are going at slow speeds.
Autonomous Cars And Safety
Whether you’re excited about the autonomous car technology or afraid of it, it’s obvious that the technology is here to stay. And if some experts are correct, the technology will soon take over traffic, making driving obsolete. But until then, companies have a long way to go.
Until the system is ready and viable, car makers must first be able to develop the perfect system. That means they have a long ways to go before the technology is completely safe. Until that is done, we will continue to hear about these accidents.
