Automation is excitingly taking over our world. Many industries have seen massive integration of automated technologies, from automobile and aviation all the way down to sports.
VAR referees in sports such as football are abundantly adopting automation. Consequently, punters betting on top odds on betting sites like https://www.telecomasia.net/sports-betting/tips/basketball/ are even more thrilled because such automation reduces the frequency of human refereeing errors, ultimately increasing their chances of winning.
Of course, it is not just sports. The automobile industry is at the frontiers of automation – seen explicitly in the development of autonomous cars.
Self-driving cars are expected to be on the roads within the next five years. And not just on any roads, self-driving cars are expected to also be on busy urban roads.
This is a stimulating reality. Why? Because autonomous cars will have to deal with pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and other traffic participants.
Yes, we have gradually seen autonomous cars appear on our streets, and they’re completely driverless. Exciting as this appears, autonomous cars on urban roads have such consequences.
Specifically, what do these cars mean for pedestrians? Will they be safer on the streets? Will pedestrians be safer at crossings? Let’s see how self-driving cars can mix with pedestrians.
A few years ago, automobile companies like NuTonomy, GM, and Uber announced that they would begin testing driverless cars in Pittsburgh and Singapore.
These regions have an extremely active pedestrian community. They ensured that these cars would not be allowed to exceed 25 mph, that they would be closely monitored, and that they would be equipped with emergency brakes.
Results were largely positive, with the world warming up to a future of steering wheels having no humans actively behind them.
But are we getting too lazy to drive a car? Why the hype for self-driving cars?
Why are autonomous cars preferable?
Pedestrian injuries statistics show that various factors contribute to their occurrence. Some of which include:
- Impatient Drivers
- Recklessness
- Impaired Drivers
- Distracted Drivers
- Over speeding
- Drunk driving
- Weather conditions
The common human errors that are noted above are being eliminated with autonomous cars, resulting in a 95% safer car for pedestrians and passengers.
The Benefits of Autonomous Cars
Knowing how self-driving cars can mix with pedestrians is a bit of a “chicken and egg question”. The first question is: are these cars safer? The second is: are pedestrians safer?
Autonomous cars are safer for pedestrians because they will react to their surroundings more quickly and better assess potential dangers. Apart from this, other benefits of autonomous cars are:
They have a higher level of safety: Unlike human-driven cars, autonomous vehicles can be trained to be safety-conscious.
With sensors and cameras, drivers and pedestrians are safer since human error is eliminated.
Traffic efficiency: Autonomous cars can communicate with one another, which is a major benefit. With this ability to communicate in real-time, cars could travel efficiently at optimal distances from one another. Additionally, they would recommend the best route so you wouldn’t suffer from bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Eco-friendly: Another significant advantage of self-driven cars is that they are environmentally friendly. Rather than using internal combustion engines, autonomous cars are likely to be electric.
Furthermore, the constant speeds that self-driving cars will travel at will reduce the need for perpetual braking and accelerating. This will reduce emissions and help make self-driving cars more environmentally friendly for passengers and pedestrians.
The Effects of Autonomous Vehicles on Pedestrians
Inevitably, there are some concerns about driverless cars. What are sticking points hindering their holistic adoption?
Security issues: Hacking is one of the potential cons of self-driving cars. Automated cars would need to share the same network protocol to communicate and coordinate.
However, if many cars shared the same network, they would be vulnerable to hackers. A single hack on a busy road could cause significant damage by causing accidents and gridlock.
Moral Machine dilemma: Autonomous cars cannot make judgments between multiple unfavorable outcomes, which is another disadvantage.
Increased Exposure To Radiation: Autonomous cars can expose pedestrians and passengers to electromagnetic fields. This could come from the heightened levels of navigation, GPS tracking tools, remote controls, powered accessories, radios, music systems, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi connectivity…that come with an autonomous vehicle.
Can Autonomous Cars and Pedestrians Coexist Safely?
Traffic laws and sensing solutions must be adapted for autonomous vehicles to coexist successfully with pedestrians in cities. However, at this point, the sensors used by most automakers are unable to deliver accurate detection and, therefore, cannot reach full autonomy.
Due to the current packet of sensors being insufficient to handle fully autonomous vehicles, we have yet to see them take over our streets.
Currently, most automakers’ sensing technologies like radars, cameras, and LiDAR cannot provide complete coverage and detection in all situations. Therefore, a human driver must be ready to take over at any moment.
An excellent possibility for the safe coexistence between autonomous cars and pedestrians is upgrading radar, cameras, and LiDAR sensors used in these vehicles to thermal sensors.
In contrast to other sensing solutions, thermal sensors can deliver accurate detection and classification. Unlike radar, LiDAR sensors, and FIR cameras, they pick up heat from objects, making them passive technologies.
To prepare society for the implementation of self-driven cars, separate lanes can be created for these cars, and the implementation of traffic laws guiding pedestrians against autonomous cars needs to be enforced.
In addition, special gadgets like pedestrian collision avoidance systems should be installed. With this system, autonomous vehicles can easily stop when they come close to pedestrians through the use of sensors (thermal).
From our deduction above, we can conclude that self-driving cars can only coexist with pedestrians if the right technology, laws, and environment are in place.
We can’t say the future is too far off. The likes of Motional, Uber, AutoX, Optimus Ride, and Tesla are working tirelessly to roll out their fully autonomous cars soon.
Author: The Pen Lord
I love technology and enjoy exploring the frontiers of innovation. I am always enthusiastic about how tech can improve society, make life better, and make governments across the world more transparent. On the sideline, I am a fanatic football lover.
