Pub. 1 2018-2019 |Issue 2

6 AUTONOMOUS M ost people, if asked, say they think of themselves as being good drivers, but the evidence does not support their confidence. More than 90 percent of all motor vehicle crashes are caused by people doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. The resulting statistics are grim ones, as shown in the following table: Annual Crash Statistic Globally In the U.S. Number of those who die in road crashes Nearly 1.3 million More than 37,000 Number of injured or disabled 20–50 million 2.35 million Cost of crashes $518 billion per year $230.6 billion per year Who is most at risk? According to online articles on the AAA website: • Inexperienced teen drivers. They are often involved in fatal crashes between Memorial Day and Labor Day, an annual span of 100 days that are considered to be the most dangerous driving days of the year. Many of these accidents involve speeding and driving at night. • Senior drivers who are 65 or older. These drivers are more than twice as likely to be killed if they are involved in a crash, but almost 90 percent of elderly drivers are unwilling to make adaptations that would improve driving safety, such as using cushions and seat pads to improve the line of sight and increase comfort, convex or multifaceted mirrors, pedal extensions to optimize visibility and increase the distance from the steering wheel and its airbag, steering wheel covers to improve a driver’s grip on the wheel, or hand controls that make it possible to drive without using the legs. VEHICLES Given these statistics, it should surprise no one that car manufacturers and major tech firms are spending millions of dollars to make driving safer by putting autono- mous cars on the road. The move to autonomous cars is already unfolding. The timeline is as follows: • In 2016: Assisted driving. Although driv- ers stay in control, technology makes it possible to monitor road hazards, and Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) Systems can be used to prevent crashes. Drivers are expected to keep their hands on the wheel when driving. • In 2018: Hands-off self-driving. Drivers can take their hands off the wheel for three minutes at a time; if the driver’s hands are off the wheel for longer than that, however, the car is supposed to slow down and stop. • In 2021: Automated driving. Cars will accelerate, steer, and brake by them- selves during specific sections of the roadway. Off those sections, drivers will have advanced assistance systems to help their drivers. • In 2025: Fully autonomous cars. They will drive automatically on all roads and will communicate with each other