5 Reasons why Driverless cars are the future

It's common knowledge that Google has been testing out a driverless car out in California.

This has been controversial, but I believe the future lies in driverless cars.  I don't think we're that far away from it.  I'd say by the time my current 5 year old daughter is ready to drive, she won't need to.  I can just hand her the keys to her very own driverless car and she can "not drive" herself to school, or off to New York University (my alma mater). I won't complain if she decides against NYU and goes to Harvard.

There are issues with it.  If the car gets into an accident, who's at fault? You? But you weren't "driving."  The car-maker?  The other guy who hit you?  This insurance issue has to be resolved.  Seems reasonable to me to keep the rules the same as they are if you were driving.  Who hit who first? That's typically how liability is doled out in most car insurance payout cases, depending on the state, whether its a no-fault state, etc.  I'm not going to get into all the details here, but seems to be an easy way to do it.

However, there are numerous positives.

1. We can reduce traffic accidents by 90%!  This is eye-catching.

2.  Assuming all the cars on the road are driverless, cars can follow closer together, and this would keep traffic moving.  Especially in those mysterious traffic jams you get into on the highway where everybody stops then goes for no apparent reason and its like a wave down the highway.  Those kinds of traffic jams would be a thing of the past because cars would keep moving and they'd be linked to sensors in the highways that would warn of accidents up ahead and slow you down or move you to a different lane. This would save money on gas since you're not idling or in congested traffic.

3. You can read the paper and drink your coffee while going to work. People can be more productive.  You can check your twitter and facebook accounts. I do that even while driving, so wouldn't be too much of an adjustment.  I'd just be able to read more than 4 words at one time without having to check the road for impending road hazards.

4. You don't have to worry about getting a ticket for talking on the phone while driving.  "I'm not driving - see!"

5. Speeding tickets would be a thing of the past, since it would be impossible to speed.  Everybody would be going in the same direction. (Now this brings up another question - what about ambulances?)

The new Mercedes-Benz 2014 S-Class sedan that's due out this September is able to do self-driving under certain circumstances. It will allow you to stay in your lane, up to 124 mph, and has a myriad of cameras and sensors around the car, but you have to do turns yourself and have to keep your hand on the wheel.

This continues a long trend of top of the line cars getting the best technology first and then over time trickling down to the entry-level cars.  Airbags were initially in top of the line cars.  Now they're standard in all cars. Cruise control also. Even the air-conditioner.  I expect we'll see car manufacturers slowly roll out features like this, and if they prove successful, roll out across multiple models.

However the big test is Google.  Will their equipment translate to a real car?  If you look real closely, basically its a $70,000 radar that they plunk on top of the car.  Obviously cost and aesthetics are an issue, but good design (apple anybody?) can fix that.

In conclusion, I believe that once they can work out liability issues, we're not that far away from driverless cars. I know I'd sign up for one WHEN they become commercially available.