Consequences of the self-driving car

Wednesday 10 January 2029

Plok

Message on my phone from my personal robot assistant.

I am reading:

How will you get to work tomorrow? Should I book a car, or will you cycle? Weather forecast: 5 degrees, largely dry.

That's true too.

I always work on Thursdays.

On other days no more. Fortunately, that is no longer necessary. Most people only work 1 or 2 days a week.

I tap my phone and say: Order a car. I have to go to [destination] tomorrow afternoon. Kerkrade, even with a car. Alone. Can you arrange that?

Of course, my assistant can arrange that. He's been doing it for a few years now. He knows my diary and tells me in good time what I need to do or what choices I have.

Travel is different than a few years ago. When everyone still had their own car. Or even two or three.

Of those cars you had to steer, accelerate, and brake yourself. Where you stuck your phone to the windscreen to see where to steer. That took a lot of time! Making appointments was difficult, because you never knew if you'd run into traffic jams on the way.

A lot has changed in a short space of time. You can no longer drive the cars of the past on public roads. Far too dangerous. There are still a few reserves where you can drive these cars. For people who find it hard to say goodbye to them.

Consequences of the self-driving car

Back to 2016.

The self-driving car.

It is closer than you think. The ANWB has already tried a few out on the A2 this year. In this little film Can you see the first models of Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Tesla, Mini, and Hyundai: ANWB tests self-driving car. Forerunners of what the self-driving car is set to become.

In this video, you can see what it means to ride without using your hands:

What will this mean for us? The good thing about thinking about the future is that you can never really get it wrong. No one can tell you exactly how it will go, but I always enjoy fantasising about it.

But when this type of car comes onto the market, the changes will be significant. I'll list a few.

Safety and convenience

Zelfrijdende auto's zullen naar verwachting fewer accidents or even none at all. By far the most accidents that happen today are caused by people being distracted, or because alcohol is involved. The self-driving car doesn't suffer from that.

Files are mainly caused by accidents (when people brake too late) or because people brake too early, which startles the vehicles behind. A self-driving car will brake in time because it continuously accounts for the vehicles ahead and the vehicles driving behind it.

Our ease will get bigger. Instead of getting annoyed with other road users, you'll have time on the way to read, watch films or even sleep.

2. Changes in cities and car ownership

Our cities can entirely arranged differently. Many municipalities are considering how to manage traffic flows and plan parking facilities to ensure that city centres remain easily accessible but also liveable. With a self-driving car, you'll soon drive into the city, but upon arrival, you'll naturally send the car away to a place where it can park for free. Not in such an expensive car park, surely?

The question is what role the public transport goes to play. Will we still take a train later if a self-driving car can take us precisely to our desired destination? Couldn't all railways be asphalted over?

This then also raises the question of whether we ourselves should or want to have such a self-driving car. The majority of our current vehicle fleet is stationary most of the time. The car is mainly used for commuting. This means that the car is stationary almost every night and all day long: an average of 23 out of the 24 hours in a day! It's actually a shame about the cost and energy involved in developing and manufacturing a car. If we had a car sharing, more people can use the same car (at different times, of course).

There are many examples where cars are already shared. Uber uses cars as taxis, BlaBlaCar shares car journeys, and with SnappCar you can rent out your own car.

3. Professions that are disappearing

When self-driving cars come onto the roads, it will have enormous consequences for many professional groups. I've listed a few for you:

• Car insurance They will no longer have to be taken out by private individuals. It is likely that car manufacturers will be held responsible for accidents. They will therefore have to insure the self-driving car.
• Damage repairer will have little to no work left if (almost) no accidents happen.
• Driving schools will no longer be needed if everyone is in a self-driving car. Why would you bother getting a driving license?
• Taxis as we are now accustomed to, will become obsolete. Why would you still take a taxi when you can order a self-driving car?
• Car parks become redundant. Large car parks will be built on the outskirts of the city.
• Couriers no longer have to deliver their own packages. This will be done by self-driving cars or perhaps by drones.
• HGV drivers They no longer have to travel on a lorry either. At most, they'll help with loading or unloading the vehicle.
• Train drivers, conductors and bus drivers largely become redundant.

If you use your imagination, you'll surely be able to add to this list. Feel free to leave a comment below this article!

That won’t happen anytime soon…

You might be right if you think it won't go as quickly as I've written above.

Personally, I think that the self-driving car is much closer than we think. Last week, Tesla presented a video of a self-driving car taking someone to work. At 2:30, the passenger gets out, and the car finds a parking space and parks itself.

Can you think of any more consequences that self-driving cars will have on our lives? I'm curious to hear your response!

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