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Self-driving cars are the future, and well, they’re the present, too. Over the past couple of years, competing companies throughout the car industry have been testing self-driving vehicles. And, it seems like everyone from Tesla, to Uber, and even Google is in the game to see who can develop the first successfully accident-proof self-driving vehicle.
However, critics say that this is unachievable at best and puts a lot of people at risk during the testing phases at worst.
Forbes reports that last year, a self-driving Volvo for Uber hit-and-killed a woman in Arizona, who let the vehicle run on its self-driving mode while she enjoyed watching a television show. The smart car was unable to recognize that it had hit someone. The person in the vehicle was supposed to act as a safety back-up emergency driver, though they let distractions get the best of them.
Dr. Lance B. Eliot, a contributor for Forbes, is an internationally recognized expert on Artificial Intelligence. In an October publication, he argues that what self-driving vehicles are missing is the human ability to detect accidents. This is something that current models don’t have and he doubts any self-driving car model will be able to develop in the new future.
He argues that current self-driving vehicles are at a Level 2 and 3 phase with being able to technology that’s smart and safe enough to recognize accidents as they happen. Cars lack the ability that humans have to use their senses and reactive reflexes to recognize when accidents happen. He vividly describes our unique abilities to see, to smell, to hear, to sense, to feel the impact that artificial intelligence can’t pick up on.
Uber is launching testing of their first models of self-driving vehicles that will not feature an emergency back-up driver, which Eliot describes as being a Level 4 model. At this point in testing, innocent people on the road are left as the guinea pigs for these self-driving vehicle tests. However, Eliot states that only testing can tell whether or not companies will be able to develop something as top-notch as a Level 5 vehicle.
Still so, Dr. Eliot believes that there is no way to develop a self-driving car that will create an accident-free future.
If you get injured by a self-driving car or any other type of vehicle while out on the road, the expert team of car accident attorneys at West Coast Trial Lawyers are here to answer all of your questions. Contact us anytime, as we’re available 24/7 to set up a free consultation by calling (213) 927 – 3700 or by emailing [email protected].