Should Australia Adopt Self-Driving Cars?

Australia, a proud and great nation. A prosperous country filled with equality, wealth and innovation. Since the Industrial Revolution, there has been rapid change in technological advances. We went from ovens to microwaves, Nokia to smartphones, horses to cars. 

A room-sized computer to a Mac that you can carry to and from school. I can and will go on!

Now our next technological endeavour may very well be the self-driving car.

Self-driving technology is the future of Australian transportation. This new form of technology would form great new experiences and possibilities for the future of mankind. 

There are many great things that self-driving technology can benefit the future and ways of living for Australia.

1. Self-driving cars could potentially provide Australia with significant increases in road safety, economic and environmental benefits.

2. Self-driving cars don’t pose any more of a risk to pedestrians, cyclists or other cars than cars that are being piloted by human drivers.

3. Self-driving technology will make driving easier and safer, allowing people to be more productive. Imagine having the opportunity to read a book, play a game, or finish some last-minute work while on the road. On average, Australians spend one to two hours in the car a day, six to seven hours a week. Roughly 30 hours a month, with drivers having to sit behind the wheel for all that time.

80% of Australians travel to and from work in their cars.

4. Greater mobility to a wider range of people than ever before. In Australia, there are many people who have restricted mobility; this may be a result of age, disability, or lack of sight. Almost 20 percent or more of Australians have a disability (that’s 4.4 million people). Driverless cars would open up the world to a large segment of the population.

5. Health Benefits. Less traffic would improve people’s health, as traffic jams have been shown to cause a rise in blood pressure, depression and anxiety in addition to impacting people’s quality of sleep.

An estimated 90 percent of all Australian road fatalities are caused by human errors:

• Speeding 
• Drunk driving
• Distractions

It is said that 1.3 million people are killed worldwide each year and over 1000 people in Australia alone.

By removing these manual driving controls from humans, automatic cars would eradicate all facilities that involve human error. 

Stats: In Australia, drink driving is one of the contributing factors to the causes of car crashes occurring in Australia. 30% of Australian car crashes are the result of drunk drivers being behind the wheel.

Over one in four drivers on Australian roads have a BAC exceeding the legal limit.

6. At first, self-driving cars would be expensive but its the same with any new type of technology introduced. When the microwave was invented in 1946, no one ever imagined that it could cook a potato in a minute. When the mobile phone was first introduced it was the most preposterous thing of that time. But as it became more common, the more people became accustomed to it.

The first Mac when it first came out was a fortune to own one. It, in fact, carried a price tag of $2500, where today’s equivalent is $5000. 

This new method of Australian Transportation can and will open many beneficial opportunities and experiences that self-driving technology can draw us into, for a fulfilled, safer, more advanced, brighter future. But there’s one flaw. This grand dream can only become a reality if you allow it.