Here are some statistics about deaths in traffic in the US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year
It is surprising that numbers are not coming down but look fairly constant despite joint efforts to make traffic safer. A total of 37,461 people died in 2016. That is 1.18 persons per one million miles traveled and 11.59 people per 100,000 inhabitants. Is it not remarkable how socially acceptable these numbers seem? Or are you aware of any outcry? A war on traffic maybe? Is this 'just the price we have to pay for our mobility'? Do you think that this will change in future? And even more interesting: what will happen when autonomous vehicles come into the equation?
I guess we need to answer these questions before we let autonomous vehicles loose onto the roads. I am an automation engineer by trade and I believe that there will be a technical solution in future to bring fatality numbers down by 99% when traffic is eventually fully automated. It is out of question if this will happen. The question is more when will it happen and how will the transition period look like. I am just guessing here but I think that once we reached a threshold of around 25% of fully automated transport the change will come super quick. It will become apparent to insurers, the public and even the greatest sceptic that humans are really bad at driving cars and that killing people is not normal or just another tragedy. The airline industry has shown us how its done and land traffic will follow, and that is something I have no doubts about it. I am sure that in 10, 20, 30, 40 or maybe 50 years time we will look back at the quoted fatality numbers and call it the dark ages of human transport.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year
It is surprising that numbers are not coming down but look fairly constant despite joint efforts to make traffic safer. A total of 37,461 people died in 2016. That is 1.18 persons per one million miles traveled and 11.59 people per 100,000 inhabitants. Is it not remarkable how socially acceptable these numbers seem? Or are you aware of any outcry? A war on traffic maybe? Is this 'just the price we have to pay for our mobility'? Do you think that this will change in future? And even more interesting: what will happen when autonomous vehicles come into the equation?
I guess we need to answer these questions before we let autonomous vehicles loose onto the roads. I am an automation engineer by trade and I believe that there will be a technical solution in future to bring fatality numbers down by 99% when traffic is eventually fully automated. It is out of question if this will happen. The question is more when will it happen and how will the transition period look like. I am just guessing here but I think that once we reached a threshold of around 25% of fully automated transport the change will come super quick. It will become apparent to insurers, the public and even the greatest sceptic that humans are really bad at driving cars and that killing people is not normal or just another tragedy. The airline industry has shown us how its done and land traffic will follow, and that is something I have no doubts about it. I am sure that in 10, 20, 30, 40 or maybe 50 years time we will look back at the quoted fatality numbers and call it the dark ages of human transport.