AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES: THE SELF-DRIVING CAR
Introduction
The self-driving car, also referred to as an autonomous vehicle, is a vehicle with the ability to drive and move safely with little or no human input by sensing its surroundings. As a concept, autonomous vehicles are often the subject of debate in current times, as people weigh in on the idea that technology could either be abused or revolutionary in the future. Many people appear to believe that one-day self-driving cars may become completely independent from humans and will be able to drive on their own as automatic human chauffeurs, as sensor technology and GPS become more advanced. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss both the positive and negative sides of self-driving cars while exploring the social, legal, ethical, and security aspects of autonomous vehicles concerning how they are used currently and will be used in the future.
Current Use and Key Components
Many key technologies go into self-driving cars which allow them to perform as efficiently as they do now. These technologies include the car navigation system (geographic information systems and global positioning systems), location systems utilizing satellites (such as GPS as well), artificial intelligence, electronic mapping, map matching, global path planning, environment, radar, laser, and visual perceptions, and vehicle control technologies. All these technologies play a role, but two of these main technologies that are extremely important to be developed further for the future of autonomous vehicles are the sensor networks and vehicle positioning systems. According to a scholarly article from the IOP Conference Series, “The purpose of the external sensor network is to use onboard measuring devices to recognize and classify objects of the road scene… and to deliver information about them to the virtual road scene assembler” (Vdovin and Khrenov, 2019). The referenced “vehicle road scene” would include objects such as pedestrians, other vehicles/cyclists, traffic lights/signs, and any other general obstacles that a self-driving vehicle would need to avoid crashing into. Road environment criteria would include the weather of that day, traffic laws/rules in the area, and the condition of the road/any markings on the road. The technology involved in these sensor networks for them to function includes ultrasonic, radar, light, optical, and infrared sensors,which all make up the sensor networks to attempt in enabling self-driving vehicles to work in all possible circumstances and environments. As for the vehicle positioning systems, the use of GPS, GLONASS, or GALILEO satellites for vehicle routing and positioning is the same in self-driving cars as conventional ones, with the same purposes of determining coordinates, re-routing if facing obstacles (such as an accident on a freeway a few miles ahead), exchanging map data, and determining vehicle motion, direction, and acceleration. Some current issues that lie with self-driving cars, such as a Tesla, are the accuracy of said technologies are not optimal without human input yet. For example, turns that are too tight to be made by the autonomous vehicle because of GPS or environment sensors not being completely accurate.
Safety and Security
While keeping in mind the small possibility of safety concerns with inaccurate GPS and sensor networks, realize that contrarily, the implementation of self-driving cars as a standard in the future would bring about great improvements in terms of safety on the road, with the connected network of vehicle technology systems and the removal of human input as a factor. This would massively benefit human health and welfare, although self-driving cars would need to operate with reliability while not requiring detailed data sharing for information security. All these positive outcomes are only possible if information security is maintained in these vehicles by auto companies. In a newspaper article from 2016, security systems in cars were reported to not be as secure as they need to be. Pen Test Partners were a group of professionals who hacked into multiple different models of smart cars to test their information security strength, and they were successful. This could sound frightening, as the possibility of someone having their car hacked into would be for anyone; however, these planned security tests were useful as 1.4 million cars went through software updates after being recalled following this experiment, thus strengthening the security systems in smart cars to prevent criminal hacking. The newspaper also details the strengthened security setup for these vehicles: “Most car companies that provide customers with… applications that communicate first with the cloud and then with the vehicle's on-board relay point. This method provides security through a robust cloud-based network.” (Marco, 2016). Forming a security system that protects data and prevents hacking will aid in achieving the security requirements necessary to create a seamless new mode of transportation that would benefit society in many ways such as the environment, the economy, and through social norms. Society would truly thrive under autonomous vehicles becoming a new normal if security measures are continuously updated with technological advances.
Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications
Speaking of the effect of autonomous vehicles on society, the ethical, legal, and social implications of the self-driving car becoming the basic mode of transportation lie within a few questionable ideas. On the chance that there is an accident, where or with whom does the liability lie? How will insurance be decided? Who is to blame if anyone? What if a self-driving car, free from human input strikes a cyclist and kills them? A sound idea would be to pass through a transitional period before switching to fully self-driving vehicles, where human input is still possible in case there is an error in the autonomous vehicle’s performance so that accidents can still be prevented. This idea is expanded upon further in a predictive research article about self- driving vehicles in the year 2025, written by Mark Ryan: “Outside of these designated areas, cars must function at level 3 capacity—limited automation. The car senses when conditions require the driver to retake control and provides enough transition time for the driver to do so.” (Ryan, 2020). This requirement of limited automation is necessary for legal standpoints as of now, because on the occasion that there is an accident or circumstances where someone needs to be held liable for some sort of damage, the human owner of the car can still be held responsible since they could take control the vehicle. It would be logical to require specialized training for owning an autonomous vehicle so that people are skilled enough to operate the vehicle in the off chance that something goes awry. Smoothing out these legal requirements, providing people training, and working out the systems of autonomous vehicles would then allow society to reap the numerous rewards of self-driving cars. There would be benefits to the environment, reducing carbon emissions and pollution. Ethical and societal benefits would include a better flow of traffic, lack of judgment to other’s driving abilities, and reduced road rage. So, with the technology currently available, it would be irresponsible to transition to fully autonomous vehicles immediately, despite the vast rewards self-driving cars provide. It would be better to continue with this option until the time comes when technology is efficient enough to maintain legal, ethical, and social responsibilities without human input.
Future Use
However, since technology is advancing ever so rapidly, it is only a matter of time before autonomous vehicles become the new normal in society. It may not quite be the future of flying cars (yet) that people envisioned would be taking place by now; however, it could be close, as the implementation of fully self-driving cars for everyone would be revolutionary for public transportation in areas of efficacy and safety (although arguably contributing to the growing issue of human laziness). A world full of completely autonomous vehicles stationed for people’s convenient use could be a comparable equivalent to a personal metro bus for everyone. It could be a replacement for most modes of public transportation, and therefore also be more efficient for fuel costs and the environment, assuming the self-driving cars are all-electric. Experts have hypothesized that the rate at which autonomous vehicles are employed will grow in society: “So far, SDVs have gained universal integration in only seven cities in the world, but… Many of the leading car manufacturers and experts estimate that this number will be between 50 and 70 cities by the end of the decade.” (Ryan, 2020). This means that the idea of a system of fully autonomous vehicles becoming a universal mode of transportation may come sooner than thought previously. Just imagine a driver being able to sit back and relax or complete whatever task their heart desires as their car drives to their destination for them, without having to worry about other drivers or obstacles. Someone could do work in their car while listening to music on their thirty-minute commute to work, and those long vacation road trips could become a lot more comfortable when someone does not have to be stiff in the driver’s seat for hours on end. The vision of the self-driving car paradise could become a reality once reliability is concrete.
Conclusion
As technology expands throughout the world, self-driving cars will become the future mode of transportation universally. The legal, ethical, and social implications of self-driving cars surround the ideas of liability, responsibility, and efficiency. Autonomous vehicles will benefit the economy through fuel efficiency, the environment through reduced carbon emissions, society through more togetherness, and the legal system through a simpler system of liability. However, these ideas revolve around two central aspects of autonomous vehicles: how they work and how they are kept secure. As technology advances, the security technology regarding self-driving cars will also continue to grow to combat hackers, improve the accuracy of internal systems, and prevent accidents. Once all these technologies are optimal, society will be one step closer to the utopia of flying cars most people dreamed of as children.
Works Cited
Marco, d. C. (2016, Jun 08). Mitsubishi SUV hacked through in-car wi-fi: As in-car tech becomes increasingly sophisticated; security is a concern. Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved September 4, 2021, from https://www.proquest.com/docview/1794304561?accountid=14541
This type of source is a newspaper article. It details an occurrence of different models of smart cars and autonomous vehicles being hacked into by security experts as to show their flaws. This provides vital information for the security aspects of self-driving cars, as the newspaper also details how automakers are cracking down on the security systems in place because of these test hackings. The source provides information about how to make more effective security as well. So, this source is obviously the best for the “Safety and Security” section of the research paper.
Mircică, N. (2019). The design, implementation, and operation of self-driving cars: Ethical, security, safety, and privacy issues. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice, 11(2), 43-48. Retrieved September 4, 2021, from http://dx.doi.org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.22381/CRLSJ11220196
This source type is a scholarly journal article. The source touches on ethical, security, and privacy issues, which are three of the main aspects of the research paper. It is information necessary to complete the requirements of the paper. More specifically, it also details the conceptual framework, methodology, and implications of self-driving cars. Therefore, it would be useful mostly for the “Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications” section of the research paper.
Ropert, S. (2017). Connected cars. Digiworld Yearbook, 134-135. Institut de l'Audiovisuel et de Telecommunications en Europe (IDATE). Retrieved September 4, 2021, from https://www-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/central/docview/2445995166/fulltext/408b626b665b4e80pq/4
This source is a book source type. It touches on the concept of self-driving cars becoming an economic investment. Further, the source refers to autonomous vehicles as being another device that should be targeted by internet companies. The source is good for the “Future Use” and possibly the “Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications” sections of the research paper. It could provide information necessary to expand on the idea of a network of connected self-driving cars becoming the new normal mode of public transportation.
Ryan, M. (2020). The future of transportation: Ethical, legal, social, and economic impacts of self-driving vehicles in the year 2025. Science and Engineering Ethics, 26(3), 1185-1208. Retrieved September 4, 2021, from http://dx.doi.org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.1007/s11948-019-00130-2
This source is a scholarly journal/research article. The article provides information on ethical and social implications as well as future use. It specifically details future use posed as a sort of hypothesis of what the impact of self-driving cars will be by the year 2025. Counterarguments to claims of possible security issues with self-driving cars are also provided in this article. So, this article provides a lot of information needed for the “Future Use”, “Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications”, and “Safety and Security” sections of this research paper.
Self-driving car. (2003, June 14). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved September 4, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-driving_car
This source type is a website/wiki page/encyclopedia source. The source provides general information regarding self-driving cars. It was simply utilized at the beginning of research in providing a base of knowledge for information for the topic. Providing a background of the history of the development of autonomous vehicles made it easier to understand the workings of self-driving cars now and how they could be utilized in the future. Not much information will be used from this source, but if it is, it would be best for the Introduction and the “Current Use and Key Components” sections of this paper.
Vdovin, D. S., & Khrenov, I. O. (2019). Systems of the self-driving vehicle. IOP Conference Series. Materials Science and Engineering, 534(1). Retrieved September 4, 2021, from http://dx.doi.org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.1088/1757-899X/534/1/012016
This source type is a scholarly journal article. It dives into the systems of autonomous vehicles but goes more in-depth about them as the other sources. This is crucial for providing as much information as possible about it in the research paper. Some examples of information included are the vehicle internal systems control, and the vehicle positioning system. It is useful for the “Current Use and Key Components” section and possibly the “Safety and Security” section as well.
Zhao, J., Liang, B., & Chen, Q. (2018). The key technology toward the self-driving car. International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems, 6(1), 2-20. Retrieved September 4, 2021, from http://dx.doi.org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.1108/IJIUS-08-2017-0008
This source type is a scholarly journal article. It specifically details the technologies that have gone into the self-driving car’s creation. Additionally, it details the systems that uphold them and allow them to function. This includes technology such as improvements in artificial intelligence, car navigation systems, location systems, electronic mapping, and more. Thus, the source is mainly useful for the “Safety and Security” section of the research paper.