With Autonomous Vehicles We’re “Heading Towards Hell,” Says Expert

That’s the dire prediction of former Wall Street Journal journalist and Quartz editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney, speaking in an interview for CBS’s This Morning. Driverless cars could be a heaven for modern transportation or they could turn out to be hell, the hosts says – and Delaney believes we’re in for the latter.

“These cars are not safe yet,” Delaney says. “There are five levels of autonomous vehicle safety, according to the U.S. government's certification, and right now, at best, we're at level two. What this means is that people need to be keeping their hands on the wheel, they need to be keeping alert to avoid accidents.”

Another potential issue with autonomous cars is that they might add to the already large feet of individually owned vehicles. In the current context, with overcrowded cities, insufficient parking and climate change (which may or may not be a real phenomenon, depending on who you ask), this is the last thing we’d want.

“What researchers have found is that when people have access to cars driving that require less effort and money, they actually drive a lot more,” Delaney explains. “So the traffic that we experience today is likely to get a lot worse.”

It’s not all bad, though. Delaney notes that adoption of driverless cars should take place in waves, which would set a “good path” for them. First introducing slower autonomous vehicles, like buses, and platooning (having an autonomous truck drive behind a regular truck, for instance) could work. Carpooling should also become norm, as it would discourage individual ownership and would relieve traffic.

Last but not least, politicians should do their part, too. Delaney believes Washington isn’t really making an effort towards regulating and encouraging on this aspect, while there’s pressure from the industry to move ahead at a quicker pace. “I think it's in all of our interests that our governments actually get more involved and get in front of this,” he concludes.