The development of a new, self-driving car that functions efficiently is being tested by various different companies, like Google and General Motors, but what practical purpose would this development solve? Some argue that these smart cars would increase traffic efficiency and could facilitate a new age of safe motor vehicles. Others argue that we cannot place our trust regarding safety solely in a machine. The creation of driverless cars should not be further developed, despite potential increase in safety, due to the increased dependency on technology it would facilitate, as well as liability issues regarding crashes or other potential accidents, both of which could negatively impact other aspects of the future.

Despite the issues of liability and dependency on technology, the development of new cars could potentially reduce safety risks associated with full human control over vehicles. Because "the information from the sensors [of the driverless cars] can cause the car to apply brakes... allow a far better response and control than a human could manage," driverless cars may reduce potential for crashes of other incidents. Advanced sensor technology is indeed an asset to this new development, however taking this concept while maintaining human control could prove to be more benenficial, due to the lack of issues such as liability and also keeping humans active and engaged. The problem is that most people would nate place full trust in technology, thus eliminating the purpose of a "driverless car" being completely driverless. Ultimately, this potential asset is far outweighed by the costs of producing driverless cars.

Younger generations of people in our modern world are becoming increasingly attuned to smart technology,with developments such as the smartphone, smart watch, etc. spreading throughout the nation. The introduction of a driverless car would further stimulate this already existing dependency, which could lead to problems down the road. As of right now, "...none of the cars developed so far are completely driverless." This means that someone must always be in the driver seat to ensure safety when the situation requires them to take over. This, however, contradicts the purpose of the "driverless car." In addition, because the point of these cars is to drive safely without human control, people could have this in mind while in a driverless car. As a result they may give little regard to the road, and rely on the car to keep them safe and get them to their destination. Then, if they are not prepared for an alert or a need for human assistance, because they expected the car to handle it, their dependency on the car put their safety at risk.

The liability issues if such an accident were to occur could be tremendous. If there was an accident, the question would arise, " who is at fault- the driver or the manufacturer?" This could lead to court trials and lawsuits that would either harm the consumers in the auto industry, or the producers. Either way, the costs would have an increasingly negative impact on the economy. It would not be logical to assume that these cars would be one hundred percent safe, as there is alway room for error, and "presently, traffic laws are written with the assumption that the only safe car has a human driver..." Because many people refuse to place full trust in technology that could have potential flaws, if an accident were to occur, the industry of self-driving cars would likely crash, as people would more and more see this technology as danger, and place the blame on the auto industry.

If further developments were to be made so that these cars truly don't need a driver, while it may reduce safety risks, ultimately the costs regarding user dependency and liability would outweigh benefits. Increased dependency could actually create more safetly problems, and liability issues could result is a crash of the auto industry's smart technology branch. If the concept of this Driverless car were changed to, rather than have no driver, help the driver, then the outcome may be more beneficial. If people still drove the car, but with helpful alerts, warnings, or displays, traffic safety would go up, and the liability and dependency issues would be lessened or dissolved altogether. A new age of technological innovation is here, and utilizing this idea in this moderate waycould pave the road to a brighter future.