Article by AI based on youtube video transcript: Why You Should Want Driverless Cars On Roads Now

Introduction to Autonomous Vehicles

All right, I'm about to go for my first ever ride in a fully autonomous vehicle. Whoa, no driver. I really like the idea of fully autonomous vehicles, but it's weird getting into a car with no driver and just trusting the car. I'm gonna report back how this ride goes and how I feel about it. Oh, but full disclosure, this video is sponsored by Waymo.

The Autonomous Ride Experience

• [Electronic Voice] Good morning, Derek. This car is all yours with no one up front.
• I polled YouTube viewers about autonomous vehicles and half of you are excited and ready for them to be on the roads, but over 40% said you thought the technology was still over 10 years away. And for those people, I have news, which is that, well, there is no driver in this car. I'm currently inside a fully autonomous vehicle driving around a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona.

The Evolution of Waymo

Now Waymo started out as the Google self-driving car project with what is possibly one of the cutest cars ever made. I am inside the world's first fully autonomous vehicle. Back in October 2015, this car went on a public road, ridden by Steve Mann, who has a disability, he is legally blind, but he could get around in this thing, which is affectionately known as the Firefly.

The History of Automation: Elevators and Airplanes

Did you know that before the 1940s, almost all elevators had drivers in them? And when people started putting in driverless elevators, well, the public was very concerned, and they didn't wanna ride in those elevators... Now you might think an elevator is just so simple, I mean, it is effectively one dimensional motion, but airplanes are also flown extensively by computers.

The Importance of Level Four Autonomy

In the early days of the Google self-driving car project, they had a vehicle that was not yet level four, so it still required a human driver... So this is why Waymo decided that the only safe way to proceed is with a car that has at least level four autonomy.

Monitoring and Support for Autonomous Vehicles

This is the depot where the cars go when they're not on the road. And it's also where people monitor all the rides in progress...

Trust and Perception of Autonomous Vehicles

I think there's a lot of, still, resistance in terms of trusting the vehicle. And they ask you like, "How does it feel to be in a car without the driver?" I was the first person to do public roads, fully driverless ride at night.

The Safety and Efficiency of Autonomous Vehicles

The National Transportation and Safety Board has identified human error as the cause of 94% of accidents. Most of these errors are impossible for a machine to make... But if you have a vehicle that has LiDAR and radar and 29 cameras, you're just not going to hit them.

The Future of Autonomous Vehicles

What I wanna see here is, how does it handle a parking lot where there's people driving in unusual ways and possibly pedestrians walking around? ... The vehicle is always doing is not only seeing where things are and where they're going, but also making predictions about where they're likely to go.

Ethical Considerations and Public Perception

A few years back, I think a lot of people were talking about how autonomous vehicles have to figure out who to hit in case of an accident... But the reality is that 99% of accidents aren't like that.

The Impact of Autonomous Vehicles on Society

Riders with disabilities, seniors, and the blind can get around more easily. Transportation will get cheaper... We can reduce traffic because vehicles will have better awareness of each other.

The Timeline for Autonomous Vehicle Adoption

If you're talking about big cities, I'm hoping the next five years will be really game changing... I would love to sit in the backseat, do my work on the way there and on the way back.