The cars of today are costly in multiple ways, but the autonomous cars of tomorrow will reduce a large portion of these costs. These cars will account for up to 75 percent of vehicles on the road by the year 2040. With the cars of today, there were 35,000 deaths in the U.S. due to car crashes, which also costs the economy $230 billion every year. Self-driving cars use vehicular communication systems, which are networks that allow vehicles and roadside units to share traffic information with one another. These systems could help avoid up to 81 percent of all traffic accidents. Autonomous braking alone will reduce car crashes by 14 percent. Now, different regions of the country have different traffic laws—self-driving cars are programmed to follow local traffic laws.
The cars of today are very inefficient. Traffic congestion costs the U.S. economy $87.2 billion a year, and 10 percent of police time is spent enforcing traffic laws. As a nation, we waste a whopping 4.2 billion hours sitting in traffic—that’s one work week for every traveler. Self-driving cars can follow each other more closely, increasing existing space on the road. Faster reaction times and a reduction of accidents will, of course, lead to improved intersection efficiency.
Today’s cars harm our precious environment as well. Twenty-two percent of carbon dioxide emissions come from cars and trucks. Since self-driving cars are about the quarter of the size of today’s cars, they will reduce fuel emissions by 56 percent.
By the year 2050, there will be an estimated 44 million people over the age of 75—self-driving cars will provide mobility for those who have difficulty driving safely.
Do you plan on buying one of these cars of tomorrow? Please share and check out the infographic below presented by InsuranceQuotes to learn more about the self-driving car of tomorrow!
