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13 Fascinating Facts About
Self Driving Cars
While they may seem like something out of a sci-fi movie, driverless cars are fast becoming part of the new normal. Here, we share 13 fascinating facts about self-driving cars.
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Historical
Facts
About Self Driving Vehicle Technology
Do you know about the beginning of self-driving cars or how many miles these vehicles have traveled? Here are three interesting facts about the history of self-driving cars and statistics regarding how common they are projected to become in the future:
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Photo Credit: wikipedia.org
The Idea of Driverless Cars Dates Back to the 1930s.
The original idea about driverless cars was introduced by General Motors in a 1939 exhibit and made a reality in 1958.
Photo Credit: wikipedia.org
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Photo Credit: waymo.com
Waymo Was a Secret
By now, most people have heard of Waymo, Google’s launch into the self-driving car industry. Waymo vehicles have currently logged the most miles out of all the various autonomous vehicle models. However, Waymo began as a secret.
The project was started by Sebastian Thrun, who led his robotics team with Stanford University to win the DARPA Grand Challenge. Several years after beginning the project, Google revealed that its fleet of autonomous vehicles had driven over 300,000 miles. The vehicles have now logged more than 8 million miles on public roads.
Photo Credit: waymo.com
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Driverless Car Stats Are Showing Only More Growth
Check out these self-driving car statistics from TechCrunch:
More than 1,400 driverless vehicles are currently in testing
More than 80 companies are currently testing autonomous vehicles
Testing is occurring in 36 states and Washington, D.C.
The current global autonomous market is larger than $6 billion. However, it is expected to grow to over $60 billion by 2030.
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Facts
on How Self Driving Cars Work
While the technology spurring the growth of autonomous vehicles is still under development, here is what we know so far:
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There Are Six Levels of Automation
According to the Society of Automotive Engineers, there are six levels of driving automation that range from level 0 with no automation to level 5, a fully automated, driverless car. Here is more information about each level of automation:
LEVEL 0
no automation.
The human driver is responsible for all driving actions.
LEVEL 1
Driver assistance.
An Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) may assist the driver with basic driving functions, such as accelerating, braking, or steering. Adaptive cruise control is an example of Level 1 automation. This feature controls acceleration and braking, usually in highway driving. Drivers may be able to remove their foot from the pedal using Level 1 automation.
LEVEL 2
Partial automation.
Partial automation allows the vehicle to perform more complex functions and simultaneous actions, such as controlling steering, accelerating, and braking. However, the human driver must continue to pay attention. Level 2 automation includes highway or traffic jam assistance.
LEVEL 3
Conditional automation.
This is the first level where the human driver may be able to disengage from the act of driving in certain situations, such as in good weather and traffic conditions. However, the driver must be able to re-engage when the system requests it. The vehicle can stop in case of a failure.
LEVEL 4
High automation.
The vehicle’s autonomous driving system can monitor the driving environment and operate all driving functions for routine routes and conditions. The vehicle can alert the driver if there is something beyond its limits that requires the driver to take over. If the human driver does not respond, the vehicle will secure itself.
LEVEL 5
Full automation.
No human driver is necessary at this level of automation because the vehicle is fully autonomous and can operate under any conditions. Humans may not be in the vehicle. Vehicles at this level of automation may not have a steering wheel or gas or brake pedals.
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Autonomous Vehicles Rely on Many Sensors
Autonomous vehicles are typically equipped with many different sensors. Sensors monitor various data points and feed this information into the vehicle’s computer. There may be a number of different sensors in the vehicle, including:
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Radar sensors
Radar sensors monitor the position of nearby vehicles.
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Lidar sensors
These sensors read lights to determine distances, detect the edges of roads, and identify lane markings.
C
video cameras
Cameras identify traffic lights, road signs, and hazards.
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Autonomous Cars Map Their Surroundings
Autonomous vehicles use the sensors and other technologies to create a map of their surroundings. As they receive more information, they fill in more information on the map.
E
Ultrasonic sensors
Ultrasonic sensors detect curbs and other vehicles when parking.
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The NHTSA Has Identified Four Major Benefits of Autonomous Cars
Autonomous vehicles use the sensors and other technologies to create a map of their surroundings. As they receive more information, they fill in more information on the map. They process the sensory input and plot a path based on it. The vehicles are also equipped with complex algorithms, predictive machine learning systems, and object recognition tools to help software follow traffic rules and avoid collisions.
Safety
94 percent of serious car accidents are caused by human error, so the NHTSA believes that autonomous vehicles could be safer by removing human drivers and their potential mistakes.
Economic and societal benefits
Motor vehicle collisions cost more than $250 billion in economic activity each year. Car accidents cause injuries, property damage, lost workplace productivity, deaths, and decreased quality of life. Eliminating the major factor that causes these accidents (the human element) could save many of these costs.
Mobility
Driverless vehicles could help people who have disabilities that prevent them from driving. Increased mobility could provide new pathways to employment and a higher quality of life.
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Autonomous Cars Still Face Safety Challenges
While these potential benefits are exciting, autonomous vehicles still face challenges that pose a threat to safety, such as:
Lidar and radar sensor limitations
Lidar is expensive, and it can be difficult to balance range and resolution. It is unknown how multiple driverless cars would react to each other on the roadway or if their lidar signals would interfere with each other.
Weather conditions
No fully autonomous vehicle has been able to be tested for all possible weather conditions to see how it would react under different situations. Since some of the technology relies on the vehicle being able to detect lane markings, it is unknown how factors such as an oil spill or heavy snow which could conceal such markings might impact these vehicles.
Traffic
Autonomous vehicles may still struggle in highly-congested areas. Driverless cars are more likely to be involved in rear-end collisions, so they may have difficulty maintaining a safe distance in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Traffic laws and regulations
Since each state has its own unique traffic laws, regulating autonomous vehicles may be difficult. Governments will have to decide whether these vehicles should be given a special lane or access to carpool lanes. Some states are proposing taxing these vehicles for each mile they travel. Additional regulations may dictate what types of pollutants these vehicles are able to use or whether some type of panic button should be installed in them. It could be difficult and cost-prohibitive for companies to have their vehicles in multiple markets.
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Facts
About Safety and Traffic Accidents
Here are some additional facts about self-driving cars and safety, along with some autonomous driving accident statistics.
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Driverless Car Accidents Currently Outpace Conventional Vehicles
Despite the NHTSA’s belief that driverless vehicles can be safer, vehicles with autopilot have a higher frequency of accidents than conventional vehicles. Per million miles driven, autonomous vehicles were in 9.1 crashes, compared with 4.1 crashes per million miles for conventional vehicles. However, self-driving car accidents tend to be minor in comparison to those involving conventional vehicles.
To date, there have been at least five reported fatalities stemming from autonomous cars.
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The First Pedestrian Death Involved an Uber Driver
In 2018, a woman in Tempe, Arizona was behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber vehicle that hit and killed a pedestrian. She was charged with negligent homicide and was believed to have been distracted by her phone at the time of the incident. The accident led to Arizona temporarily suspending driverless operations in the state. Uber’s self-driving cars were involved in 37 minor accidents before the pedestrian death.
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Driverless Cars Are More Likely to Be Involved in Rear-End Accidents
A study published in Science Direct shows that out of the motor vehicle collisions studied, 64.2 percent of those involving autonomous vehicles were rear-end accidents, compared to 28.3 percent of accidents involving conventional vehicles.
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Most Autonomous Vehicle Accidents Occurred When the Vehicle Proceeded Straight
The same Science Direct article revealed that 65.2 percent of accidents involving autonomous vehicles occurred when the vehicle proceeded straight when it should not have. Other common driving maneuvers involving autonomous vehicles and how often they contributed to accidents include:
13%
Making a left turn
8.7%
Making a right turn
8.7%
Passing another vehicle
2.2%
Changing lanes
2.2%
Entering traffic
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Driving at an Unsafe Speed Is the #1 Cause of Driverless Car Accident
The Science Direct article found the following driver errors in crashes involving autonomous vehicles:
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Drivers Have Died While in “Autopilot”
In a 2016 crash involving a Tesla Model S and a March 2019 crash involving a Tesla Model 3, drivers who had autopilot activated died when they got in crashes.
The driver behind the wheel of a Tesla Model S that was in autopilot mode was killed in 2016 when the sensors in the vehicle failed to recognize a white tractor-trailer crossing the highway against a bright sky. This caused the vehicle not to be able to brake in time, leading to the man’s death.
Contact Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. for Help
If you were hurt by a driver who was disengaged and relying on autopilot or other autonomous tools that did not work properly, contact the Chicago personal injury team at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.
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