Consequences of the self-driving car

Wednesday January 10, 2029

"Plock"

Message on my phone from my personal robot assistant.

I read:

"How are you going to get to work tomorrow? Should I order a car or are you going to cycle? Weather forecast: 5 degrees, mostly 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: "Just order a car. I have to go to work tomorrow afternoon Kerkrade, also with a car. Alone. Can you arrange that?¨

Of course my assistant can arrange that. He has been doing nothing else for a few years. He knows my agenda and tells me in time what I have to do or what I can choose.

Traveling is different than it was a few years ago. When everyone had their own car. Or even two or three.

Those cars where you had to steer and accelerate and brake yourself. Where you stuck your phone to the windshield to see where you had to steer. That took a lot of time! Appointments were difficult to make, because you never knew if you would encounter a traffic jam on the way.

A lot has changed in a short time. You are no longer allowed to drive the cars of the past on public roads. Much too dangerous. There are still a few reservations where you can drive these cars. For people who have a hard time saying goodbye to them.

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Consequences of the self-driving car

Back to 2016.

The self-driving car.

It's closer than you think. The ANWB has already tested a number of them on the A2 this year. In this video you can see the first examples of Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Tesla, Mini and Hyundai: ANWB tests self-driving car. Forerunners of what the self-driving car is to become.

In this video you can see what it means to drive without hands:

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

But when these types of cars come to market, the changes will be big. I list a few of them.

1. Safety and convenience

Self-driving cars are expected to fewer accidents or even none at all. The vast majority of accidents that occur today are caused by people being distracted, or because alcohol is involved. The self-driving car is not affected by this.

Files are mainly caused by accidents (when people brake too late), or because people brake too early, which startles the people behind them. A self-driving car will brake in time because it continuously takes into account the vehicles in front of it and the vehicles driving behind it.

Our ease will become bigger. Instead of being annoyed by other road users, you will have time to read, watch movies or even sleep on the road.

2. Changes in cities and car ownership

Our cities can be fully be arranged differently. Many municipalities are thinking about how to manage car flows and plan parking areas to keep city centers easily accessible but also liveable. With a self-driving car, you will soon drive to the city, but after arrival you will of course send the car away to a place where it can park for free. Surely not in such an expensive parking garage?

The question is what role it plays public transport is going to play. Will we still take a train when a self-driving car can take us exactly to our desired destination? Wouldn't it be better to have all railways paved?

Then comes the question of whether we should or want to have such a self-driving car. The largest part of our current fleet of vehicles 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 24 hours in a day! It is actually a shame about the costs and energy to develop and make a car. If we were to have a start sharing a car, more people can use the same car (of course at different times).

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

3. Disappearing professions

When self-driving cars hit the road, it will have huge implications for many professions. I'll list a few for you:

• Car insurance will no longer have to be taken out by private individuals. It is likely that car manufacturers will be held liable for accidents. They will therefore have to insure the self-driving car.
• Damage repairers will have little to no work if there are (almost) no more accidents.
• Driving Schools are no longer needed if everyone drives a self-driving car. Why would you get a driver's license?
• Taxis as we are used to now, will become redundant. Why would you take a taxi when you can order a self-driving car?
• parking garages become redundant. Large parking lots will be built outside the city.
• Couriers no longer have to deliver their own packages. This is done by self-driving cars or perhaps even drones.
• Truck drivers don't have to go on a truck anymore. At most they help to load or unload the car.
• Train drivers, conductors and bus drivers become largely redundant.

If you use your imagination, you can probably add to this list. Feel free to leave a comment below this article!

It won't be that bad...

If you think it won't happen as quickly as I write above, you might be right.

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

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

For all Adrem VIP Members We have a special offer for those who leave a comment: this week (24-10-2016 to 30-10-2016) EUR 10 discount on the rental of a car or van!