Can technology outsmart bad drivers?

Although I’m a huge advocate of using technology to make our lives simpler, I have to admit the thought of riding in the back seat of a driverless car sends chills down my spine. Unless the car is on a track at Disneyland, I’m not interested. There’s just so many bad drivers out there, not to mention people who dart into traffic, broken signal lights, dogs and bikes zipping between cars — the list of split-second decisions that need to be made while driving seems endless.

So when I saw the Business Insider article about aggressive drivers that bully self-driving cars, I was intrigued. The benefit of riding in a self-driving car is you don’t need to worry about breaking any driving laws; the cars are engineered to follow the rules of the road and protect the passengers. According to research results from a study done on drivers’ attitudes about self-driving cars, there are those who intend to bully the automated cars by aggressively driving around them, forcing the self-driving car to let them pass. In situations where the self-driving car has the right-of-way, bully drivers say they will go first anyway, knowing that the automated car will comply.

Experts worry — rightly so — that this will lead to more bad behavior by already aggressive drivers. There’s so much road rage out there already, at least from what I’ve experienced on L.A.’s crazy roads, I’m not sure we’re ready for another excuse to drive like bullies.

Reference

Price, R. (2016, October 17). Aggressive drivers bully self-driving cars. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://nordic.businessinsider.com/aggressive-drivers-bully-self-driving-cars-autonomous-vehicles-study-lse-goodyear-2016-10/