Potential Problems with Self-Driving Cars (2024)

FAQs

What are the problems with self-driving cars? ›

Self-driving cars are fire hazards

Lithium-ion batteries may explode if they catch fire, and the fire can spread to other vehicle systems. You can't put out a lithium-ion battery fire with water or a fire extinguisher, which makes it challenging to contain these fires.

Self-driving cars are speculated to worsen air pollution, noise pollution, and sedentary lifestyles, to increase productivity and housing affordability, reclaim land used for parking, cause greater energy use, traffic congestion and sprawl.

One important but often overlooked ethical issue raised by autonomous vehicles is whether they should be programmed to avoid hitting animals, and if so, which ones. All vertebrates, and some invertebrates, are sentient beings, liable to suffer if hit but not killed instantly.

Sensors Challenged by Inclement Weather

Adverse weather conditions pose a significant challenge for self-driving cars. These vehicles rely on a range of sensors, including cameras, radars, and lidars, to detect objects on the road.

Self-driving cars are controlled entirely by computers. Unfortunately, computer hardware and software can be vulnerable to exploits from malicious hackers. These cyber attackers could be able to break into the vehicle's systems and take control of it.

The computers needed to run self-driving cars could pose a serious threat to the environment. They could ultimately produce more greenhouse gas emissions per year than Argentina currently does, new research suggests. Fossil fuel-guzzling cars spew out billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Many sectors will be impacted by the introduction of AVs: not only will jobs disappear in certain sectors, there will be a shift of jobs between different sectors. This effect may result in an annual cost of more than $350 billion annually in the US alone.

Depending on the parameters set by the developer, these attacks could lead to emergency stops or strong swerves away from a sensed object that doesn't actually exist.

In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that self-driving vehicles are more than twice as likely as traditional vehicles to become involved in auto accidents. According to 2015 NHTSA data: There are 9.1 crashes in driverless vehicles per million vehicle miles driven.

What was one example of a problem that driverless cars can solve? ›

Traffic and congestion problems would be eliminated. Passengers would easily travel to longer destinations without the need for a driver. Driver monitoring systems in self-driving cars would help keep a check on passengers and their safety.

One of the central legal challenges surrounding autonomous vehicles revolves around determining liability in case of accidents. In traditional accidents, liability is typically assigned to the driver who was at fault. However, in the context of self-driving cars, the lines of responsibility become blurred.

A malicious attacker could find and exploit security holes in any number of complex systems to take over a car or even cause it to crash purposefully. Furthermore, driverless cars of the future will likely be networked in order to communicate with each other and send and receive data about other vehicles on the road.

Reduced Congestion

Fewer crashes or fender benders mean fewer roadway backups. AVs are programmed to maintain a safe and consistent distance between vehicles, which can help to reduce the number of stop-and-go waves that produce road congestion for no apparent reason.

If such self-driving vehicles are widely adopted, the computers powering them would generate as much greenhouse gas as all the world's existing data centres currently do - roughly equivalent to 0.3 per cent of global emissions, or the total carbon footprint of Argentina.

The main technical breakdowns or malfunctions that can cause self-driving cars to hit people include sensor failures, software glitches, and communication errors. Sensor failures, such as a malfunctioning lidar or camera system, can lead to inaccurate detection and tracking of pedestrians or obstacles.

Proponents say driverless vehicles could reduce the stress of commuting, lower the number of accidents and make traveling more sustainable. But critics have raised a number of concerns – ranging from safety risks, to cost, to their potential to hurt the environment by making car travel easier.