Review of Literature on The Future of Autonomous Cars

My topic is autonomous cars. An autonomous car is a vehicle that is capable of detecting its environment and navigating without human input. Autonomous cars detect the environment by making use of devices such as radars and cameras. These devices then send the data they receive into a software built-in the car’s operating system. The car then uses the inputted data to make judgments and perform different output functions. Some of the functions an autonomous car will perform are increasing or decreasing speed and deciding when to make a turn. The topic should matter to people as autonomous cars will cut down traffic and cut down harmful gaseous emissions that are released into our atmosphere. Furthermore, autonomous cars will also be safer than the cars we currently have.

World famous CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk himself has promised “full self-driving” capabilities to Tesla owners by 2019. Other manufacturers are also looking to replace conventional fuel powered vehicles with electrical autonomous ones. We know this because they show us concepts of such vehicles every year during motor shows. For example, Nissan debuted their version of an autonomous car call the ‘IDS’ at Geneva Motor Show 2016.

My primary research question is “Can we ever trust self-driving cars enough to have them completely take over our commutes?” Useful secondary research questions could be, “What does it really mean to say that self-driving cars will completely take over?” And “How will self-driving cars take over?” In my paper, I will argue that people should learn to be confident about the notion of autonomous cars and start to learn how they work. Once knowledgeable, people can naturally use them when they become available.

My thesis is that while autonomous cars cannot make ethical judgments, they are the future, and we will benefit from them as we can make them perform better than humans. Furthermore, autonomous cars will reduce harmful gaseous emissions, traffic, and a number of accidents.

“What a driverless world could look like, ” by Wanis Kabbaj (2016), is a Youtube video uploaded by TEDTalks. Youtube videos are not peer-reviewed, and so they seldom qualify as scholarly material; however, this particular video has been viewed over 1, 950, 000 times, and it has received over 31, 000 “likes, ” suggesting that it has been broadly successful. Wanis Kabbaj suggests that we can find inspiration in the genius of our biology to design the transit systems of the future. This video is useful to my paper because it shows how autonomous cars can help a city run smoothly. Moreover, as it is a YouTube video, it provides evidence that this is a topic people are interested in and searching for. I will not be using this resource greatly in my paper; instead, it will serve as a single example of one of my claims. Autonomous cars and dynamic bottleneck congestion: The effects on capacity, value of time and preference heterogeneity.

In H. Yang (Ed. ), Transportation Research Van den Berg and Verhoef (2016) is a chapter published by world-renowned publishers, Elsevier. This chapter has a CiteScore of 5. 09 and has an impact factor of 4. 081. The chapter discusses that autonomous cars can safely drive closer together than cars driven by humans. As a result, the introduction of autonomous cars will possibly increase road capacity. By allowing drivers to perform other activities in the vehicle, the value of travel time loss is reduced. I will not be using this source to a great extent in my paper but it will aid me in explaining how the introduction of autonomous cars will increase road usage efficiency.

Maurer and colleagues (2015) is a book that has been downloaded over 90 thousand times and cited 100 times. This book answers questions such as, “Where do automated vehicles fall under current legal frameworks?” “What risks are associated with automation and how will society respond to these risks?” I will not be using this resource greatly in my paper. For autonomous cars to be fully integrated into our cities, we have to prepare our laws and prepare ourselves for the change. This resource will help me to respond to legal and social aspects on autonomous cars.

Autonomous cars: In favor of a mandatory ethics setting by Gogoll and Müller (2017) is a book that has been downloaded over 7600 times. This book discusses how self-driving cars will make life and death decisions. The authors argue whether manufacturers should be allowed to predetermine the cars ethics settings or if the driver can choose their own ethics settings. I will not be using this resource greatly in my paper. This resource will be used to address concerns regarding ethics in autonomous driving.

Self-driving cars will change cities by Zakharenko (2016) is an article published by world-renowned publishers, Elsevier. This article has a CiteScore of 2. 02 and an impact factor of 1. 278. In this book, the author discusses how the introduction of autonomous vehicles will benefit us. Benefits such the reduction in the per-kilometer cost of commute and increase of worker welfare. I will be using this source several times during my article. This source will help me in making supportive claims about autonomous cars.

In-vehicle technology for self-driving cars: Advantages and challenges for aging drivers by Yang and Coughlin (2014) is an article published in the International Journal of Automotive Technology. This particular article has been downloaded over 5 thousand times. This book discusses how aging drivers might find it difficult to use in-vehicle technology in autonomous cars. The elderly might not be willing to accept the new in vehicle technology or they just might not be able to learn it. I will not be using this resource to a great extent. This resource will only be used to reply to opposition concerns.

When autonomous cars take to the road by Guerra (2015) is an article published by the American Planning Association and has been cited over 640 times. This article discusses that fully autonomous vehicles will likely to be seen driving themselves on city streets in the next 20 years. All car manufacturers are already being seen using technology such as automated braking, self-parking, lane departure warning, and cruise control. We are already being prepared for the introduction of autonomous cars. I will be using this resource frequently as it shows how we are being prepared for autonomous cars. Furthermore, it also highlights some advantages of them.

Why Self-driving cars are decades off by MacDuffie (2018) is an article published by a highly respected university, University of Pennsylvania. MacDuffie suggests that despite the hype that autonomous vehicles will arrive within a couple of years, full self-driving capabilities are many decades away. He expects the next couple of years to still be testing phases for autonomous cars.