Self-driving or automated cars do not require a human driver to assist them. With the help of onboard sensors and 360-degree vision, they can keep a watch on their surroundings and navigate easily.
Eliminating the human driver aspect from your car will also ensure fewer accidents. A self-driving will remove the risk of a driver talking on the phone while driving, breaking the speed limits, or driving under the influence of any substances.
If you are planning to buy a self-driving car, get help from a car accident attorney and know all the legal advantages and disadvantages of having an automated car.
Research and experiments have estimated that automated cars can prominently reduce the risk of accidents. Because these vehicles have such advanced equipment like onboard sensors, high-resolution cameras, GPS, radar, and protective systems, they have the potential to minimize road accidents to a negligible number.
Here’s how self-driving cars can reduce the risk of accidents.
Automated Vehicles and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS
Entirely self-serving vehicles have a long time to be widely available, at least not before 2030. However, you can notice partially automated changes introduced in these vehicles like automatic parking or highway pilot.
Similarly, ADAS can take away specific actions from the driver that can potentially cause accidents like handling the steering wheel or breaking. Autonomous emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance are examples of the ADAS technology that helps ensure the car’s and its passengers’ safety.
ADAS technology can help to reduce human error and avoid accidents that occur today.
Connected vehicles
Apart from ADAS, there is also an initiative to implement connectivity and information sharing in automated vehicles to improve road safety. Communicating data or information with the surrounding vehicles can reduce the number of casualties during an accident and decrease the frequency of car accidents.
C-ITS or Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems are working towards inhibiting networking in connected vehicles and the environment surrounding them. C-ITS can sense traffic flow, including how fast the vehicles are coming and going and their frequency.
By collecting this information, there can be several changes made to improve the roads and overall structures. For example, different speed limits can be introduced, determining open and closed traffic lanes, and assisting in avoiding accidents.
People can contribute as much as they can to improving roads’ overall dynamic and decreasing road accidents.