Self-driving cars are a costly business, with automakers like General Motors dropping millions upon millions of dollars each year on development costs as they bring fully-autonomous driving technology closer to production. Those sorts of expenditures have been difficult to justify to many investors, who have seen the negative impact on revenue, but have yet to see any sort of a return on automakers’ sizable investments.
At a recent presentation to investors, General Motors President Dan Amman attempted to flesh out why the automaker is pushing so hard to try and make self-driving cars a reality. According to him, there are three primary issues that GM is hoping to improve with its efforts in the area of autonomous driving: reducing traffic fatalities, saving commuters time, and reclaiming some of the space currently wasted on non-residential parking.
Reducing Traffic Fatalities
According to research from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA), the vast majority – 94 percent – of all traffic fatalities are caused by human error. Taking the human out of the driving equation and replacing him or her with an intelligent machine that doesn’t make procedural mistakes, get distracted, or succumb to fatigue could save a lot of lives.
Saving Commuters Time
The average commuter loses a full week’s worth of time stuck in traffic each year, according to the Auto Insurance Center. Self-driving cars like those being developed by General Motors would not only allow commuters to devote their time in traffic to something more worthwhile like reading or catching up on email, but might also ease traffic congestion itself by helping optimize traffic flow using proven algorithms.
Reclaiming Parking Space
Right now, in the United States, there are about three non-residential parking spaces for each car on the road, The New York Times says. Much of that might be better used as green, residential, or retail space, and wider use of (autonomous) rideshare and ride-hailing services could help make that happen.
GM is generally considered to be an industry leader in the field of self-driving cars, and the automaker plans to roll out the Cruise AV (top) on a commercial scale starting next year.
Stay tuned to GM Authority for more GM autonomous driving news as it develops.
Comments
The real reason GM is pushing Autonomy is to be seen as a tech company and not an automaker to drive up stock prices.
Automakers with high development cost are not seen as good investments but a company driving advanced tech systems like Fuel Cells, electric cars and autonomous can be seen as a better risk for more short term gain.
The saving of lives, time and space are side effects.
Tesla is a great example of how to drive stocks with tech even with no dividend or profit. Imagine if GM can drive the tech and still turn a profit and dividend.
This is a long term plan.
Also GM can partner or sell the technology to others mfgs who can not afford to develop it themselves.
The saving lives, space and time makes for good press on forums.
Self driving shuttles are on the road now…May Mobility in Detriot, Navya in Vegas and Voyage to San Jose, California, and Orlando, Florida…
Reason #4 is that General Motors CEO Mary Barra was a big fan of the TV series Knight Rider and loved the idea of a car with integrated artificial intelligence to drive autonomously and be the owners friend and companion besides just a conveyance.
T he three reasons are money, money, and more money. GM could care less about safety, commuter time, and parking spaces. If they stepped outside of their box, they would also realize most Americans could care less about self driving cars. What customers want from GM is new product in the showroom faster.
Three words that result from a poor education:
‘could care less’
No doubt this is the future but expect growing pains, which will be measured in part in human lives.
Part of the issue will be atrophied driving skills; will tomorrow’s driver know how to navigate a snow covered road when the system shuts down and hands it back to human control?
Airbus airliners which have an excellent safety record overall, also have seen the drawbacks of too much automation. Some disasters were the result of computers on the fritz and then pilots failing to implement basic airmanship because they haven’t had to in so long (Air France 447). A Boeing type approach of some sort might suit the automotive world better as their systems still rely a bit more on operator common sense and skill.
Good reasons to take away all human vehicular action input. Atrophied Skills _ Texting _ Talking. Truly safe and automated vehicles will have no human input controls except by a cell phone app and maybe even that is a bad idea.