Imagine driving down the road and seeing a driver in another car looking at their phone. Inattentiveness like that leads to thousands of deaths every year.
In 2023, 3,275 lives were lost in the United States due to distracted driving, according to the NHTSA. Waymo’s new technology provides a full 360-degree view of the area, helping prevent accidents related to distractions while driving.
Autonomous cars, also known as self-driving cars, have been rapidly expanding westward across the southern border of the United States. Waymo is a fully automated vehicle designed to provide easier and safer transportation, according to robotsguide.com. The company began in California, expanded to Arizona, and now operates in Texas.
Cars with self-driving capabilities have been available to the public for about 20 years, with Tesla’s Autopilot being a well-known example. Waymo offers a similar yet more advanced technology that uses sensors and artificial intelligence to map out its surroundings at all times, allowing for a more responsive driver and quicker reactions, ultimately creating a safer experience for the rider.
According to a survey, 59 percent of students say they would not trust Waymo to keep them safe. “It is essentially a robot which does not have the proper reactions and awareness of humans… I would rather have a human driver than a robot,” said Savannah Mena, senior.
However, not everyone is distrustful of Waymo. “I trust autonomous driving more than a person driving,” said Aaron Brayer, math teacher. “A robot driver does what it’s programmed to do,” he said, suggesting that human drivers may not be following the rules for many reasons, including tired driving.
Waymo publishes all information about crashes and malfunctions to gain the public’s trust as the technology advances. Waymo was involved in 45 major crashes within six months, and most of them were not Waymo’s fault, according to Kai Williams on understanding.org. Waymo has been involved in 92 percent fewer pedestrian accidents and 82 percent fewer crashes with cyclists of any kind compared to human drivers, according to the company.
With a long history of human driving and recent advances in autonomous driving, Waymo appears to have significantly lowered the number of accidents and provided safer transportation.
