Technological Transformation of Transportation
By: Jemar L.
Tags: Self Driving Cars, Electric Car, Transportation, Technology

Exponential advancements of technology have altered nearly every aspect of our society. One, in particular, is regarding transportation. New technological advancements are transforming the way automakers are designing and building automobiles hence this has resulted in more car options, increased gas mileage, and an expansion of sophisticated technology. With such advancements in transportation, yourself and others, may have thought of questions such as, where is the future of automobiles headed? Will electric vehicles (EV) become more ubiquitous in society going forward? How long until electric vehicles outpace gasoline vehicles? Are self-driving cars safe and ethical to drive? How do self-driving cars get programmed to operate safely? As part of Dr. Brandon Boesch’s course, Special Topics: Technological Transformations of Society, at Morningside College, this group that includes Hudson Hall, Isaiah Hinners, Jack Sievert, Jemar Lee, and Mason Welker explored the concept of technological transformation of transportation. This post in conjunction with a podcast recorded by this group investigates many of the questions depicted above. As you continue to read, you will explore the substantial advancements of technology occurring in transportation going forward, how electric vehicles will only become more common on our roads, how the advancement of self-driving cars is causing a rise in ethical dilemmas, and what that could mean for our society.

An important aspect of technology that is evolving is the topic of transportation. Auto companies have been working on solutions to the fast-approaching gas crisis as well as the problem with emissions hurting the environment. A popular solution to these problems has been around since 1832. This solution is the advancement of electric cars as well as the increased production that would need to happen. Electric cars are simply cars that run on a rechargeable battery rather than gasoline. The benefits of electric cars include zero emissions which would greatly help the atmosphere and environment if everyone drove them. The cars are also much quieter than gas-powered vehicles. The leading car company in regard to electric vehicles is Tesla which accounts for 18 % of all-electric vehicles on the market. The world of transportation is evolving for every car company as they set goals for themselves to produce electric cars to compete in the market in the future. Some of the obstacles to the mass use of electric cars are that there is a shortage of available charging stations in small cities and towns. Big cities can afford to place many of these stations because there are many people on the road driving electric cars there, but smaller towns are lucky to just have one, but many have none. To increase the popularity of electric cars there would need to be an increase in the availability of electric charging stations. Another obstacle is the fact that most car shops cannot help you if you have car problems with an electric vehicle. If you have trouble with your car you are going to have to go to very specific shops or maybe all the way back to the producer. Colleges do not teach mechanics to fix electric cars. The engine and functioning of an electric car are just so completely different than that of a gas-powered car.

Moreover, self-driving cars are a technological advancement that humans would have thought to be far-fetched just a few decades ago but now you can buy very basic versions of them and in the future they will be fully autonomous and the need for driving yourself may no longer exist. Tesla for example has cars that are not fully autonomous but partially. The cars can park for you, set their speed to the same as the other cars around it, and assist in steering. The company does require you to be attentive and have a hand on the steering wheel at all times because there are certain limitations to self-driving cars nowadays. Self-driving cars can only drive on well-marked roads and perform simple driving tasks. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done for self-driving cars before they can be relied on more so than the average driver. Car companies still struggle with automatic braking software. There are videos on YouTube where they test the automatic braking features of different cars and a lot of them were not good at stopping whatsoever. Once these challenges are overcome by the self-driving car company’s safety on the road is going to increase exponentially. This is also going to depend on how many people use self-driving cars. Because self-driving cars are controlled by an AI, they can communicate with other cars, so they know where everyone else is. So, in the future, if everyone used self-driving cars there may be no use for driving laws other than the ones that involve pedestrians, and speed limits would also greatly increase because it would take out the possibility of human error.

When taking into consideration the efficiency, practicality, and future of both electric vehicles and self-driving cars, one must also consider the ethical dilemmas facing these two technologies as well. Firstly, in regard to electric vehicles, there are certainly a lot of pros that people tend to think of. People think that electric cars are safer for the environment as they don’t produce as many CO2 emissions as gas-powered cars and they don’t directly burn fossil fuels. Therefore, this means that overall electric vehicles should be better for the environment. However, there are other deeper levels of thinking that need to go into thinking of electric vehicles and the impacts they may have on our world. One such issue is that the energy that is used to power these cars, while electrical, has to come from somewhere. Unfortunately, in most cases, this electricity still comes from the burning of coal and fossil fuels. Another dilemma is that when an electric car’s battery becomes ruined beyond repair and use, then what is to be done with the old battery? The battery is most often just thrown away, at least in our present times, and there is no current, efficient way to recycle and reuse old batteries. This means that there is a lot of waste that would be added to our landfills and environmental footprint as a result of the use of electric cars. As there are many topics of discussion such as this one, there are both pros and cons about what kind of effects this technology could have on our world.

As we’ve seen, there are a lot of things to consider regarding EV’s and ethics, but there are also ethical dilemmas facing the world of self-driving cars as well. The people that are creating these self-driving cars, or autonomous vehicles, are claiming that these new vehicles would benefit everyone as they would allow for a way to reduce accidents and vehicle-related fatalities oftentimes due to human error while driving. They say that by letting the vehicle take full control of itself, it could safely drive from Point A to Point B without any issues. This is a really optimistic perspective and, hopefully someday, the true reality of the future and potential of autonomous vehicles. However, as with everything, there are both pros and cons that must be acknowledged. First, it is safe to assume that self-driving cars won’t become universally used by everyone all at once. This means that not everyone will have this new technology all at the same time, meaning there will still be people driving themselves in their “older” cars. Therefore, while a driver may not have to worry about hitting anyone while relaxing in their autonomous vehicle, there are still other drivers out on the road that could just as easily hit fellow commuters as they could before the invention of these cars. Another common topic of controversy regarding self-driving cars is how cars should be programmed to react in certain scenarios. For example, if a pet runs out onto the road that an autonomous car is driving down, how should the car react? Should it keep driving and hit the pet, potentially killing it? Or should it try to slow down quickly to the detriment of the passengers? Or even go as far as to swerve off the road or into the other lane and risk hitting someone or something else? These are all situations that need to be recognized as possibilities and there is really no simple answer to this issue. There is universal agreement on some such scenarios, but the majority of situations have received a variety of viewpoints and there appears to be no single solution to these problems. This is just one of the many ethical issues that are being faced even now as self-driving cars continue to be developed and become more common in our world.

Lastly, in a world that is ever-increasing when it comes to technology, there is a lot to consider. Even in one specific topic, such as transportation. Above there were many issues discussed, these issues include, will electric vehicles be the predominant vehicle? How ethical are self-driving and electric cars? How are self-driving cars supposed to be programmed safely? These questions were discussed in length, however; these questions are too complex to answer at the current moment. There are too many factors that influence these changes to discuss all of the possibilities and implications they may have in order to come up with a final answer. This is weird to think about, because in the end someone will have to make those decisions, and from the brief look into the issues, it seems like it will be a daunting task. Society as a whole is going to have a lot of obstacles to overcome if it would like EV and self-driving technologies to become mainstream. These problems once overcome will most likely lead to more problems, and so on. The future for these advancements could be very bright, but on the other hand, the world has a very long way to go, and a lot of tough decisions to make before it gets there.

References:

https://www.tesla.com/support/autopilot#:~:text=How%20does%20Autopilot%20work%3F,alone%20would%20not%20otherwise%20have.

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/self-driving-cars-101