PRO/CON: Is it time to hop in self-

driving cars?
By Tribune News Service, adapted by Newsela staff on 03.11.16
Word Count 1,341

Jessie Lorenz of the Independent Living Resource Center in San Francisco, California, who is blind, touches the two-
seater prototype of Google's self-driving car at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, May 13, 2015. LiPo
Ching/Bay Area News Group/TNS

PRO: The future is already here for self-driving cars

Are Americans ready for cars that drive themselves? That may sound futuristic, but we
have actually been ready for more than a century.

The horses that pulled buggies did not need anyone to drive them. They were able to nd
their way home with little or no help from humans. Traveling without a driver is not a new
idea. It is just a better way to travel.

At the beginning of the 1900s the number of vehicles increased. The amount of deaths and
injuries caused by car accidents jumped as well. Modern technology and safer car design
have helped decrease the number of fatal crashes. However, the numbers still remain too
high.

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Removing Human Error From Driving

One ve-year study showed that vehicular accidents killed more than 32,000 people each
year in the United States. That is more than double the number of people who died
worldwide in the recent Ebola outbreak.

Nearly 95 percent of these fatal accidents are caused by mistakes by drivers. That gure
comes from the National Highway Trafc Safety Administration (NHTSA). This government
agency works to make America's roads safe.

Vehicular accidents also send about 2.5 million injured people to hospitals each year.

We accept all of these accidents because cars are very useful. Self-driving cars are even
more useful. Self-driving cars allow people to do other things instead of driving. People
could be texting on their phones, working or just relaxing.

The self-driving cars that are now being developed use many forms of technology to drive
themselves. Radar, cameras and other devices are used to "see" the world around the car.
Computer systems drive the car from one place to another without any help from humans.
These cars should soon be ready for everyday use.

Self-driving cars remove many of the human mistakes that cause accidents. Self-driving
cars can also help disabled and elderly people get from place to place on their own.

Self-Driving Cars Will Be Safer

Then there is the fact that cars are expensive to buy. The insurance that people have to
buy to protect themselves in case they get into an accident is not cheap either. A good
insurance plan might pay for all the damages caused by an accident. However, that plan
could cost hundreds of dollars each month. Self-driving cars would lower the cost of
insurance.

In some ways self-driving cars are already here. Some of the newest safety improvements
in cars come very close to self-driving. New technology can control a car's speed, keep it
in its lane and help with parking. These are all steps toward a future of self-driving cars.

Of course, self-driving cars will not be perfect. There will still be some accidents, although
far fewer. There will be some people who will never give up their cars. Other people will live
in areas where self-driving cars simply may not work.

Some lawmakers may try to stop self-driving cars from using our roads. They might be
scared by the anger that will come after the rst accident caused by a self-driving car.
Others will see self-driving cars as a threat to their business.

Self-driving cars offer so many advantages that it makes little difference whether
Americans are ready. Americans need to get ready. Self-driving cars will soon be here.

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 ABOUT THE WRITER: Robert W. Peterson is a professor of insurance law at
Santa Clara University School of Law. He also writes and teaches about self-
driving cars. Readers may write him at Santa Clara University of Law, Santa
Clara, CA 95053.
This essay is available to Tribune News Service subscribers. Tribune did not
subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and
do not necessarily represent the views of Tribune or Newsela.

CON: You can only go so far with self-driving cars

No one likes a backseat driver. Backseat drivers sit in the back seat of a car and question
every decision a driver makes in the front seat. Backseat drivers try to control how the
driver handles the car.

Can you imagine a backseat computer doing the same thing? One you cannot turn off?

This backseat computer is already in many cars, and it will soon control the driving for you.

It is the self-driving car, and it is no longer science ction. It is already here. Bits and
pieces of it, anyhow. Many new cars use cameras and sensors to park themselves. Others
have systems that can completely stop the car without the driver even touching the brakes
if they sense that an accident is about to happen.

Taking The Technology Further

Next year, General Motors will take this technology even further. Some of the automaker's
cars will have vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology, or V2V for short.

V2V technology allows cars to "talk" to each other through electronic signals. These cars
will be aware of other cars' locations and speeds. They will use V2V technology to avoid
accidents. This could prevent situations where, for instance, car A runs a red light because
its driver was not paying attention and strikes car B.

With V2V, the driver of car A would be saved by the car. Car A would automatically brake
for the light and avoid striking car B.

These are some of the good features of self-driving cars. However, taking the driver out of
the equation entirely, or relying too much on technology, can have a downside.

As anyone who owns a computer knows, computers develop glitches. A computer glitch is
annoying when it happens at your desk. It could be deadly when it happens on the
highway.

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Some kind of computer glitch is likely to happen with a self-driving car. The computer that
controls the car will face many extremes that desk computers do not. High and low
temperatures, vibrations caused by driving near large trucks, and water from rainstorms all
affect cars. Any of these could cause problems for a car's computer.

But How Far Can It Go?

Over time, something is likely to go wrong. If the human driver has become a passenger
who cannot control the car, what will happen?

If there is an accident, who will be responsible? If the car is driving itself, can a driver be
blamed for an accident? Will the manufacturer of the car be to blame?

Another problem is how car insurance rules will change.

Insurance protects the driver from paying for accidents. If the driver no longer actually
drives the car, why should he or she be required to buy insurance? If a driver does not
need insurance, will he or she even need a driver's license?

An even bigger problem is how to program self-driving cars to ignore trafc laws.
Sometimes it is necessary to ignore a law in order to avoid an accident.

For example, cars cannot cross double yellow lines. What if a child runs into the cars
path? The only way to avoid hitting the child is to turn out of the way.

It is against the law to cross double yellow lines. However, it is the right thing to do in this
situation. A human driver would do it, but a self-driving car might not. It would be
programmed to obey the law. Unlike humans, a self-driving car might not be able to ignore
a law in order to avoid an accident.

Technology is usually a good thing. However, problems arise when technology is not under
human control, as could happen with self-driving cars.

Technology that assists human drivers is great. Technology that gets in their way could be
a very bad idea, indeed.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Eric Peters is an automotive journalist and author of

Road Hogs and Automotive Atrocities. Readers may write him at 721
Hummingbird Lane SE, Copper Hill, VA 24079. His web site is
www.EPautos.com.
This essay is available to Tribune News Service subscribers. Tribune did not
subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and
do not necessarily represent the views of Tribune or Newsela.

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Quiz

1 Which sentence from the PRO article represents a main idea of that article?

(A) It is just a better way to travel.

(B) Self-driving cars would lower the cost of insurance.

(C) There will be some people who will never give up their cars.

(D) Self-driving cars will soon be here.

2 Which sentence from the CON article would be MOST important to include in a summary of
that article?

(A) Backseat drivers try to control how the driver handles the car.

(B) Many new cars use cameras and sensors to park themselves.

(C) Some kind of computer glitch is likely to happen with a self-driving car.

(D) Unlike humans, a self-driving car might not be able to ignore a law in order
to avoid an accident.

3 Read the paragraph from the introduction [paragraphs 1-3] of the PRO article.

At the beginning of the 1900s the number of vehicles increased. The

amount of deaths and injuries caused by car accidents jumped as
well. Modern technology and safer car design have helped decrease
the number of fatal crashes. However, the numbers still remain too
high.

What is the author arguing in this paragraph?

(A) that the number of car accidents needs to be reduced

(B) that there are more cars on the road now than in the 1900s

(C) that more people get into accidents now than in the past

(D) that self-driving cars will reduce the number of cars on the roads

4 What is the CON article author's MAIN argument?

(A) Technology is never as useful as it seems.

(B) Humans should always have control of technology.

(C) Self-driving cars will not actually be used any time soon.

(D) Humans prefer driving themselves rather than using self-driving cars.

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