Joshua Coon
Christian. Student. Photographer.
In 2015, 35,092 people died in the United States from car accidents, which is more than double that of gun deaths (13,286 in 2015). This staggering number of car deaths in the United States is a public safety epidemic. I apologize for beginning this blog post with a downer, but these statistics set the stage for a much brighter future in vehicle safety. In recent years, the emergence of self-driving cars has offered a glimmer of hope at solving this public safety epidemic. At the onset, self-driving cars could only be tested on closed courses due to their unpredictable and unnerving nature. Overtime, with an increasing amount of data to analyze, computer vision and object tracking algorithms have greatly improved. Some self-driving cars have now graduated to real world testing and even production cars (e.g. Tesla). The most exciting part about production self-driving cars is not that you could eventually take naps on your way to work, but that your likelihood of getting into an accident on your way will be significantly decreased. Although not perfect and large strides still need to be made in self-driving technology, the potential is staggering. In this real-world video, customers in Russia documented their Tesla’s ability to see past the car in front using its radar and then begin it’s collision avoidance before any other car could. Notice that the car’s collision alarm goes off before the accident even occurred. In a more recent development of this technology, a start-up company called Luminar has demonstrated their Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system, which they built from the ground up. Their version of LiDAR is a big deal because it can detect objects in stunning detail from up to 100 meters away. For instance, it can detect “a bicyclist weaving in and out of the road, at 100 meters and further away; a small pigeon that suddenly scurried about 40 meters in front of their car; and they clearly showed the human form of the mannequins, even those dressed in dark garb; as well as the black-painted canvas at the end of the pier.” In contrast, “data streaming in from other LiDAR makers would only show a few dots or a meager line indicating that an object lay ahead. Other systems could not specify objects or even detect dark walls and the mannequins dressed in darker clothes.” As monumental improvements to self-driving cars continue to unfold, Americans must start to consider the (near) future of vehicular transportation. Will it soon be our ethical responsibility to adopt the safest alternative to people-driven cars? How many more years must we go with a death toll that’s in the tens of thousands? Can self-driving cars put an end to vehicle related deaths? Sources:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/13/luminar-debuts-a-sensor-to-make-self-driving-cars-safer-than-human/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year https://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cyclist_deaths_in_U.S._by_year https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812318 http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lidar.html
6 Comments
Mariel Calande
4/14/2017 11:17:29 pm
I wonder if in the future when self driving cars are common place, will it be an ethical decision to own one? I can imagine that if self driving cars become so advanced and end up preventing so many deaths by accidents, will there be an ethical dilemma for those who don't own one? If self driving cars stay pricy and become a sort of luxury item, will lower and middle class families be excluded from the benefits from a self driving car? I feel like self driving cars could easily become another marker of the gap between classes. Access to this technology will definitely change if self driving cars are deemed "life saving".
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Matt Provo
4/18/2017 02:51:13 pm
I enjoyed reading your post about self driving cars. I thought it was interesting to consider the potential for less accidents of the roads. I feel like recently many news stories focus on the negative side of self driving cars and choose to overlook all the benefits. Knowing how dangerous cars and driving are, I am surprised there are so many resistant to the idea of self driving car are not open to the idea of self driving cars. I am looking forward to taking a nap on my way to work.
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Christian Martinez
4/30/2017 02:54:42 pm
Joshua I really enjoyed reading your post on self driving cars. I think its great to see less accidents on the road and when LIVES are being saved self driving car technology, it is great to see. Unfortunately, the stories when a emerging technology does something good get far less airtime than those where a self driving car makes a mistake such as running a light or causing an accident. I have faith that think kinks in the self driving algorithms will be ironed out in the coming years and we will see them be more common. Thanks for the post!
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5/9/2017 12:39:00 am
Hi, Joshua.
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Sean O'Fallon
5/9/2017 10:12:05 am
I am so excited for self driving cars. Not only will the roads be safer and we will be free to nap in the car, but traffic will become much less common and be cleared up quicker once self driving cars are adopted. I am a firm believer that people should not be allowed to drive when there is a safer alternative available.
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Sotheng Uch
5/13/2017 10:42:20 pm
I've never seen this clip before, but this make me even more exciting to own if they make an affordable one in the near future. Who is not exciting for just sipping on coffee on their way to school/work. And in this clip, it prove that self driving keeping improving regarding safety issue.
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