Google self-driving electric cars promise to save lives, end traffic jams



“They won’t have a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, or brake pedal … because they don’t need them,” Google said Tuesday in a blog post introducing the unnamed electric vehicles. “Our software and sensors do all the work.”





Google did not explain how the car navigates, although passengers would presumably punch in a destination on the dashboard screen and let the computers do the rest.





Most major automakers are also developing vehicles that drive autonomously.



Here are some of the possible benefits of self-driving cars — some culled from various reports, some a bit more speculative:

1) Self-driving cars would save lives: This is the most obvious one, and roughly 40 percent of fatal accidents are caused by alcohol, distraction, drugs, or fatigue, all of which go away once you take human off the wheel. Letting robots take the wheel would save lives.

2) Commutes would become quicker and less stressful: Research shows that long commutes increase the risk of obesity, divorce, stress, sleeplessness, and neck pain.

Self-driving cars could ease the burden somewhat. Commutes would be quicker, as cars driven by robots could travel at steadier speeds and avoid traffic jams. What’s more, commuters could kick back and read a book or nap rather than stressing out behind the wheel.

3) Driverless cars will be more fuel-efficient: Once we no longer need clumsy human drivers, then self-driving cars and trucks will be able to bunch close together at steadier speeds. The Rocky Mountain Institute estimates that the reduction in wind drag alone from vehicles traveling closely together could reduce fuel use 20 percent to 30 percent. What’s more, cars would no longer need to be so big and hulking — since their users don’t need to fear crashing as much. That all boosts fuel efficiency.

4) Driverless cars will waste less fuel on things like looking for parking. One MIT study found that in congested urban areas, drivers waste an absurd amount of gasoline circling the blocks looking for parking. Intelligent self-driving cars could presumably improve on this.

5) More and more people will be able to drive. There are plenty of people who are not allowed to drive right now. Everyone under 16. The elderly. The disabled. People who are intoxicated or on medication. People who are sleeping. All of those people would now be able to get around in driverless cars.

6) Driverless cars could make car-sharing more popular. By some estimates, most privately owned cars are currently parked 90 percent of the time. That’s a huge waste — we spend a lot of money for cars that sit in the parking lot most of the time. In theory, self-driving cars could be used more productively — say, through car-sharing services. That might mean fewer cars overall.


So much easier with all these self-driving cars around. Piriya Wongkongkathep/Getty Images

7) Self-driving cars could make walking and biking more appealing. If self-driving cars are safer than human drivers on the road. That’s not a bad thing from a public health perspective.

8) Self-driving cars could make the transition to electric vehicles easier. As Google consultant Brad Templeton explains here, self-driving cars will allow car manufacturers to radically change their designs. And that could have big implications for electric vehicles.

For one, if self-driving cars can be lighter and more efficient, they’ll be able to go much further on a single battery charge. That could allow electric cars to catch on more quickly — again, possibly saving on fuel use.

9) Driverless cars could bring billions of dollars in benefits. Last year, Daniel Fagnant and Kara Kockelman of the University of Texas tried to tally up many of these myriad benefits.

Their rough estimate? If 10 percent of the vehicles on the road were self-driving cars, the country could save more than $37 billion a year due to fewer deaths, less fuel, more free time, etc. If we reached a point where self-driving vehicles constituted 90 percent of the cars on the road, the benefits would rise to some $447.1 billion a year.