The autonomous car- a dream of many people for years on years, but it seems that the time has come. We today have the technology and ability to make it happen. Though it may seem marvelous and a load off of the drivers shoulders, maybe taking a deeper look would be beneficial. Is it really as great of an idea as it seems?

Autonomous cars, or self driving cars, have truly been around since 2009 with the company Google. What may suprise people is that these cars do not completely control themselves. There still has to be a person alert and ready to take control at any given moment. The technology for these vehicles is very advanced, but they cannot maneuver through construction sites or back out of drive ways. As amazing as these vehicles are in theory, what is the use of a SEMI-self driving car?

Not only do humans have to be armed and ready to hop to the wheel (or in some cases, keep their hands planted on the wheel at all times), there is never any guarantee that the technology will not fail. If one of the cars were to fail, it would more than likely cause a large wreck and injure at least the driver. Not only is it a safety concern, but also the relationship between the buyer and seller is compromised. If someone were to be injured in a car that was supposed to keep them safe, who is responsible? Is it the blame of the company or the owner of the vehicle?

As many know, technology can only do what it is programmed to do. A computer cannot console you when your cat dies, neither can an autonomous car make spurt of the moment decisions on what to do. In situations such as somebody quickly pulling out in front of you, the car would slow down too quickly or possibly completely come to a stop. That could cause many safety hazards to the driver and the people around them. If presented with a different, more severe situation, who knows what could happen?

Though there may be some pros to having an autonomous car, they do not out weigh the cons of it. It is far too much of a safety concern to have driverless cars on our roads. Just like people, technology can make mistakes or fail. The idea of driverless cars should be abandonned, for they do not propose any true benefits.