Driverless cars are a very intriguing and thought provoking concept that manufacturers and society have toyed with for decades. The possibility of reducing the risk of human error is very tempting and a reason for why many people are in supports of having driverless cars. Although, not everyone shares the same opinion regarding cars that don't require human control. I do not think that completely driverless cars are the best way to go because of the high risk of a computer error, but minimal human interaction could possibly be very beneficial.

Many companies such as BMW and Google have been working on developing driverless cars. While these cars have had some success on the road, there are some situations where a human driver is needed to take control of the situation. One example of this is a construction zone. Cars can have a radar and know how the road twists and turns, but in construction zones that is all thrown out the window. There are usually new boundaries created by traffic cones that the sensors on the car might not be able to connect.

Even though I am opposed to cars that are completely driverless, I do think that the integration of this technology can be highly beneficial in some areas of driving. One place that I feel like computer-assisted driving can help is when a person is backing up. Often times it is hard to see everything and it can be very easy to hit something or someone while reversing in a car. A computer that generates three dimensional images of the car's surroundings, such as the LIDAR system used by Google, could assist drivers by helping them see things that they previously weren't able to see. I also think that an automatic brake that is activated when the car is dangerously close to an object would be beneficial as well.

While there are risks and rewards to a driverless car, I feel like the risk of a computer error is a great one that could cost money and lives. Driver assistance, including cameras for backing up and an automatic brake to help prevent wrecks, is something that I would be open to in the future. We could soon be seeing these driverless cars on the road as many companies plan to have models out in the next five or six years, but I doubt they will be completely driverless.