Ever since Henry Ford back in 1913 first installed the assembly line technique for the mass production of an entire car, humanity have been dreaming about a self-driven autonomous car. Part of many popular science fiction imagination from H.G Wells to Aldous Huxley in the early decades of the 20^th century – the dream of owning a self-driven autonomous car is finally now a reality. From Elon Musk and his Tesla to Ford and Domino Pizza’s fleet of autonomous vehicle, pretty much all the big players from the automotive industry are heavily investing upon autonomous vehicles, in a bid to invent the most advanced next-gen self-drivingcar.

While it’s true that Autonomous Cars had already been around for quite some time now, there were many challenges related to Sensor technology for instance, which prevented self-driving cars to be a feasible commercial reality. With the rapid strides made in the fields of IoT and Robotic Automation, the door has been for the first time for humanity to venture into a transportation system completely driven by autonomous vehicles.

Let’s take a look at some of the other benefits Autonomous Cars will bring forward to society:

Reduced Risks Of Accidents

Most of the road accidents plaguing us are due to careless driving and human errors. The reasons can be manifold a person may be drunk-driving or he/ she maybe in a bad or anxious mood that leads to fatal accidents, injuries and deaths. With the AI taking charge of the driving, Autonomous Cars have the potential to completely take human emotions, errors and carelessness out of the equation. As a matter of fact, after conducting repeated experimentation it has been observed that Self-driving cars are projected to reduce traffic deaths by 90 percent, saving 30,000 lives a year.

Reduced Traffic Congestion

Human drivers have the natural tendency to create a phenomenon called “Phantom traffic jam” – a kind of traffic movement which is stop-start and go in nature. This has been observed even in the absence of any particular bottlenecks or narrow lanes. The disruptive nature of “Phantom traffic jams” where people spend hours stuck in one location can be greatly reduced with Autonomous Cars taking charge of the driving.

Reduced Fuel Consumption And Less CO₂ Emissions

The inevitable truth is that Autonomous EVs will be the future of human transportation, and the stepping stones towards that future has already been laid down by the likes of TESLA and Ford. According to a published report from the Ohio state University, since AI driven softwares will drive the cars of the future, modern vehicle can now be programmed such that they emit the least possible emissions possible. The transition to the new-age cars is expected to contribute to a 60% fall in CO₂ emissions overall.

Who Will Be The Biggest Winners?

While it’s true that Autonomous Cars have a variety of benefits to offer from lower Carbon footprint to reduced accidents, the ultimate winners here will be the disabled and elderly people. Since, traditional vehicles were built to be operated by drivers with good eyesight and hearing to navigate the traffic and surroundings on the road – people suffering from disabilities had long been unable to enjoy the pleasures of driving or simply making use of the utility of moving from one place to another on their own account. With Autonomous self-driving cars, it’s possible now for people suffering with certain disabilities to operate a vehicle. The same holds true for elderly people whose senses have wanned over the years to operate a self-driving car. They are the two most prominent groups that will benefit from the following standard of self-driving cars.