If you’ve been keeping up with the world of auto vehicles, you probably know that a revolution is in place. Autonomous vehicles, aka driverless cars, aren’t just the stuff of movies anymore. They are real and they are here already.
Over the past decade, various companies have been working on bringing autonomous vehicles to the road. These cars will use a series of technologies to navigate the roads and avoid traffic all on their own, thus drastically cutting down on accidents caused by human error as well. If you’re not all caught up, this article will give you the lowdown on all the essentials about driverless cars.
What are Autonomous Cars?
Autonomous or Driverless cars are vehicles that can perform all the necessary functions of driving that humans can, including navigation, parking, etc. It uses a series of tools, several sensors and GPS technology to navigate the path, interact with other vehicles, avoid obstacles and get you to your destination in the fastest and safest way possible.
There are various tiers of autonomic cars out there. Some of them do most of the navigation but require minimal human intervention, and some don’t require any intervention at all. The former of these categories has already been launched in several countries around the world. In fact, autonomous trucks have already become a reality in the US.
A lot of vehicles these days come with some of these autonomous features such as self-adjusting speed controls, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot warnings, etc.
While Tesla was working on autonomous vehicles, it seemed to be something far-fetched, something that only the super-rich of the world can afford. However, now that traditional companies such as Ford have taken it up as well, it seems likely that driverless cars will soon be the norm rather than the exception.
Benefits of Autonomous Cars
The following are some of the main benefits of autonomous cars:
- Reduced Maintenance Costs: Autonomous vehicles will be able to automatically gauge whether a certain part of the car is not running in optimum quality and initiate maintenance. Furthermore, it will run in optimum driving parameters, thus increasing fuel efficiency. And because of the sensors and the lack of human error, accidents – even minor ones – will be reduced drastically.
- High Efficiency: The car will be able to monitor the surroundings and objects and monitor speed to be able to drive in optimum condition. Furthermore, it will be able to pick you up at just the right time and drop you off at your destination in the quickest time possible. You also won’t have to worry about parking issues as the car will be able to locate a spot after you have been dropped off.
- Enhanced Safety: Autonomous vehicles will have a far faster response time than humans. This will completely negate most of the reasons for accidents, i.e., human error, road rage, etc.
Well, that’s just the basics of autonomous technology. It’s believed that once driverless cars take over, insurance companies will be in for trouble as there won’t be as many accidents and problems to insure against anymore! However, for now, our regular cars are all too prone to accidents so you should always have a reliable car insurance with you.