Is The Adoption of Self-Driving Cars Bringing you Luxury, Convenience, and Obsolescence?
As the world moves forward, we continually witness advanced technologies replacing the old. In the wake of cellphones, not only did public pay phones all but disappear but also, most homeowners today choose to forgo the installation of a landline telephone in their homes. In the meantime, online shopping service providers such as Amazon are steadily gaining prominence over the brick-and-mortar retail stores.
Such innovative technological advancements have now borne self-driving cars, an invention expected to alter the cultural landscape of the entire universe in the same way indoor plumbing, the printing press, and, of course, the internet, did. It is a reasonable expectation that over time, some of the things we currently take for granted will be made obsolete by the introduction of the autonomous vehicle (AV). Although our roads and highways might not necessarily disappear overnight, a day will come when we are likely to look around only to discover the locations of such infrastructure bearing entirely different features compared to what they once were.
The main question when it comes to the self-driving vehicles is whether their introduction will bring luxury, convenience, and obsolescence. Listed below are five things we expect a transition to autonomous vehicles will probably make obsolete, of which both luxury and convenience are part and parcel.
Street Signs
Most of the instructional signs such as no-parking and stop signs are most likely going to be redundant, especially on the roads in which cars will be driving themselves. However, some street signs such as those announcing the names of streets might still be required by pedestrians. The obsolescence of instructional street signs will be as a result of the autonomous vehicle programming, which includes such instructions. Even today, the current speed limit is displayed on touchscreens by some of the GPS navigation systems and once such information is effectively programmed into the computers of each and every car, speed limit signs would consequently disappear as well.
Traffic Lights
As much as cyclists and pedestrians still need to get directions on who has the right of way, the chances are high that traffic lights as we all know them today will fade into disuse. The traditional traffic lights that usually turn green, yellow, and red will most probably not be the source of the directional information needed by either cyclists or pedestrians. Innovation along the lines of the current cross and do not cross signs would most likely serve the needs of both cyclists and pedestrians more efficiently.
Valet Parking
While valet might just be a small part of it, the parking industry is worth over $100 billion dollars. The self-driving car poses a threat to all in the industry including the rental business. As you’d imagine, self-parking will be among the functions of the autonomous vehicles. Self-driving cars will be able to find a parking spot on their own after unloading their passengers. Currently, Nissan has specimen autonomous vehicles that feature the capability to drop off passengers, find programmed parking spot and park by themselves, as well as return to pick up the passengers, all thanks to commands issued via a key fob and mobile broadband. Since such capabilities substantially fulfil the services provided by valet parking attendants, such services as well as the associated costs will be eliminated by the introduction of autonomous vehicles.
Parking Meters
In the same manner as valet parking services, parking meters are most likely to disappear. Charging for the street and public lots used by the self-parking cars, especially in the communities that still employ parking meters to generate income, will require the development of some new technology. This new technology might be similar to the current toll road transponders, like Florida’s SunPass. Physically inserting a credit card or money into a metering system cannot work when the vehicles are parking without the presence of a driver.
Mail Carriers
The need for ice vendors was eliminated as soon as iceboxes were replaced by electric refrigerators, in the same way, corner supermarkets eliminated daily milk deliveries and milkmen. In the same fashion, several of the most common services might be rendered unnecessary by the introduction of self-driving cars. Since autonomous vehicles will have the ability to follow set routes, mail carriers might as well be among the very first to go. The adoption of autonomous cars could also eliminate railways and domestic flights.
Although it remains unseen whether autonomous vehicles will truly render the ordinary realities of today such as insuring your vehicle, things of the past, it is certain that once self-driving cars are introduced, the entire world will start looking different.
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