Self-driving cars: what are the pros and cons?

Zelfrijdende auto's zijn voertuigen die zonder menselijke tussenkomst kunnen rijden.

The self-driving car is a car without a driver. It has nobody behind the wheel, You're driving on the motorway and it's safe too. You can enjoy the beautiful surroundings without a care in the world, while your car drives itself. The hills of South Limburg can be conquered in all sorts of ways. Even without your hands on the wheel. Can you imagine that? Well, this is as much as possible, but not yet integrated into our lives.

‘Technology knows no bounds’. Technological advancements open up paths and new doors. The advantages of self-driving cars are definitely present.‘Self-driving‘is however not yet established, because there are not only advantages, but disadvantages adhere. We will discuss the main consequences below.

Advantages of self-driving

Self-driving cars have consequences beyond just the road. It goes much further than that. ‘Self-driving cars’ influence society as a whole. Consider, for example, the economy and the environment.

Traffic engineering advantages

Self-driving cars seem like the ideal solution to the traffic jam problem. This is because the cars can drive closer together, which saves space and is also safer, more economical, and more environmentally friendly.

The accuracy in the system of self-driving cars makes it parking the car more safely and easily. This also means that self-driving cars can be parked closer together. Consequently, parking spaces can be made smaller, thus creating more room for:

• cyclists and pedestrians, allowing them to participate more safely in traffic
• more green, to promote human well-being.

With a self-driving car, you automatically adhere to the traffic rules. Speeding will be a thing of the past. And the fines for it too!

Economic benefits

The system of ‘self-driving’ reduces the risk of traffic accidents. This means fewer injuries and lower healthcare costs. And so, together, we create an economic stimulus that will have a lasting impact.

Another economic boost arises from the fact that people no longer need to concentrate on the road. In your self-driving car, you have time to occupy yourself with other matters than driving. For example, you can work in the car, or surf and shop on the web with the Wi-Fi on board. So productivity can go up.

the automatic responses in the self-driving system, furthermore, the Fuel consumption This means that as a citizen or company, you will have to spend less on this, resulting in personal economic advantages.

Other benefits

The image in the living environment will change. Traffic lights and road signs are no longer needed, if everything is fully automated. These aids are only necessary due to human limitations. But with a self-driving car, this handicap is removed.

The quality of garages will grow. For The Hare's Tooth There is less space. The self-driving car notices that something is wrong and places a garage on a blacklist. Fully automated, the cowboy will then disappear from the market.

Self-driving cars are easy to share. You can simply rent them and pay by the minute or per kilometre driven, so to speak. The data for this is already collected anyway. It just needs to be linked to ‘your trip’. In short, renting a car or van becomes more advantageous for both the rental company and yourself.

Drawbacks of self-driving

Yet there are also plenty of negative consequences that you don't quickly think of in advance with self-driving cars.

Decrease in government revenue

The government will have to think about other revenue streams. Traffic fines and fuel excise duty will be abolished from the government budget. The tax burden on electricity must increase.

Security of the self-driving system

Self-driving cars rely on digital data in the cloud. If someone manages to intercept and alter this data, traffic could descend into utter chaos. System Security In data protection, these are therefore essential. Frequent MOT inspections of the security system are necessary. After all, you don't want a hacker to drive off with your car.

Driving schools will disappear

For driving school owners, the rise of self-driving cars is disastrous. For a car without a driver, you no driving licence needed anymore and therefore no driving lessons. Can one switch in this sector? Is there a service to be found that connects to the new way of driving?

Conclusion: advantages and disadvantages of self-driving cars

Finally, here is a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of self-driving cars mentioned.

The benefits:

• No more files
• more room to live
• increase in road safety
• lower healthcare costs
• economic stimuli
• more economical
• cleaner living environment
• better garages
• simpler automatic sharing.

The disadvantages:

• lower revenue for the government
• dangers of hackers
• No more driving schools needed.

What do you think? Will self-driving cars become the future? Post your reaction below!