[LINK] Will humans be banned from driving?
Jim Birch
planetjim at gmail.com
Thu Jun 2 11:15:31 AEST 2016
It's worth noting that while relatively few RTAs result in death,
significant injury is around 30 times the death rate (My informal
research). A proportion of these injuries result in ongoing disability and
economic consequences, eg, brain injury, inability to work, inability to
walk without a stick, long term medical treatment.
There is also a significant moral issue here since the death or injury is
often not to, or not only to, the "culpable" driver but to their
passengers, or, to random people whose families may not just endure
personal loss but also ongoing economic consequences.
If driverless vehicles was an option it would reduce the social cost of
kicking bad drivers off the road. It could also allow a workable zero
alcohol policy for drivers. On the downside, it might increase alcohol
consumption, but at least that is self-inflicted damage.
The reduction of road trauma noted by BRD is a great success story. A lot
of the measures used to achieve this - like more expensive safer cars,
compulsory seat belts, drink driving laws, lower speed limits, slower safer
road design, more policing - have been resented and opposed as restrictions
to liberty. And they are. Driverless cars are another step along this path.
Jim
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