That of autonomous driving it is a technology with very high potential. It could revolutionize the way we travel, overturn the very concept of the car, break the mold and automate our cities. But it could also be a risk, especially taking into account its current introduction in stages, and on different platforms, simultaneously with ‘traditional’ cars.
Enrico Al Mureden, professor of Civil Law and Product Safety, Product Liability and Automotive at the University of Bologna, wrote a book entitled ‘Driverless Cars‘, in which the theme of autonomous driving is explored from a legislative and system point of view. During an online meeting organized by Volvo, Al Mureden used a very strong expression to clarify what is in common between self-driving cars and safety: “autonomous driving could be like an accident vaccine“.
“The concept of safety on board self-driving cars can be compared to vaccination, a recurring theme in this period; how the vaccine allows you to live normally even through the pandemic, protecting you from serious health consequences, road accidents could be drastically reduced in a mobility system governed by autonomous driving. The potential is enormous in this sense, because it would change our habits; we have spent the entire last century increasing traffic and the search for automotive efficiency, but at the same time we have experienced many accidents. Self-driving car could get it all in one fell swoop. There is always mistrust, as well as for all vaccinations: consequently it is necessary to win the trust of the recipients of this progress, that is, those who travel by car, avoiding focusing attention on side effects. Clearly there is no such thing as zero risk, because there will be new types of accidents. But a 90% reduction in accidents is a feasible goal“Said the professor.
What would be the elements capable of reducing the risk? Without a doubt the lack of human driving errors, replaced by a good programming of the software code in addition to the preventive systems against accidents already existing on the majority of cars currently in the price list. But with the advent of this technology, an infrastructure will be available that can make cars talk so that traffic is more fluid. “We aspire to reach a level where cars will be able to pick up passengers on their own, without the latter having to intervene in driving. We will have to make this car play in an arena with standard rules, in order to avoid the confusion dictated by two different systems. In fact, this coexistence would not make the self-driving car useless, but it could not fully express its possibilities. The car that drives alone already exists, what is missing is the infrastructural and legislative scenario to make everything adequate. A public investment will be needed: but once this path is chosen, an industrial revolution will lead to enormous wealth; programmatic studies confirm this possible growth, with enormous economic value. A bit like when the first highways were built“, He concluded Al Mureden.
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