Many see the advent of self-driving cars as a thing of the future. Each day more and more self-driving test vehicles appear on our roads in some cities. It appears that the future is closer than we think. The use of services like Uber makes getting from one place to another easier and faster. Uber plans to add self-driving cars to their fleet which will have a secondary impact on the automotive industry. How ready are we for this transition? This article looks at how this transition will impact of our lives.
- The first secondary impact is a change in our mindset. It used to be that youth coming of age was linked with getting a driver’s license and buying a car when they go off to college. In the future that will no longer be the case.
- Car Accidents: Self-driving cars will prevent thirty five thousand automobile deaths annually on us roads. Parents will not be worried about children being out late driving after a party. The thirty-five thousand automotive deaths in the US will be severely curtailed. This is a welcomed secondary impact of self driving cars.
- Organ transplants will be severely impacted by the lack of spare organs harvested from auto accidents. Less organs will be available for transplants causing a huge demand. Will this shortage lead to a revival of a black market for organs?
- Changes to Automotive Designs. Many auto makers are incorporating self-driving features in their new models. Car buyers are also expecting to have these features incorporated in their new vehicles as seen in Toyoto’s Gardian Angel. Improved automobile design is another secondary impact of self driving cars.
- Resale Car Market is already seeing a decline in sales . This decline will affect car leasing and car payments. The cause was thought be the Uber service which plans to expand its service significantly as soon as it can use autonomous cars. People will be buying less used cars.
- New cars will also see a significant decline in price and availability. With expanded service, Uber’s price will decline sharply as it becomes more popular. The domino effect is that the necessity to own a car will decline and with it the need for auto insurance, parking fees, fuel charges and the need for overnight parking.
- Insurance and Litigation: The gigantic reduction in accidents should eliminate much of the need for civil and mitigated litigation. Firms like Uber will either buy bulk insurance or provide their own thus making individual owner policies unnecessary. Individual auto insurance, as we know it, will evaporate.
- Media Consumption: Time used for driving in the past will be used to read, watch movies, or work as people commute from one point to another.
- Law Enforcement: Autonomous cars are fully loaded with all kinds of sensors and cameras. They have centralized tracking and near constant oversight. Traffic officers will no longer be necessary. In car and on street tracking systems will monitor and capture individuals engaging in unacceptable behavior in real time. Citations will be delivered swiftly and directly to the offenders by mail or at next stop sign.
- Automated On-site Car Repair: Autonomous cars will have a different type of repair system that will be updated and repaired in a similar was as our computer software is updated. Replacement vehicles will be on hand when a breakdown occurs on route. They will have an automated service that will relieve the incapacitated vehicle and take it to a regional repair depot. Early warning systems will dispatch replacement vehicles to the disable one before a failure occurs.
- Car Repairs and Paint shops: Autonomous cars have been viewed as rolling appliances or traveling elevators. Using the Uber model, the self-driving car won’t get into accidents. We will not need individual auto insurance or auto repairs or new paint jobs. This industry will be a thing of the past as the new model of transportation unfolds.
- The development of self-driving cars was motivated by the aim of the saving of one and a half million lives annually world-wide. The whole process has been dubbed the “The Second Industrial Revolutions.” When linked with the process of robotics and artificial intelligence the possibilities are endless. The secondary impact of the self-driving cars is enormous. Please share your thoughts with us how you see the secondary impact of self-driving cars. We would love to hear from you.
