It may be that in a while, when we have more autonomous vehicles running around, the Yellow May is just a memory of a time when people needed to be made aware of road safety. The expectation, experts say, is that the high traffic statistics will decrease when we have more cars driving around without the presence of a human behind the wheel.
It is precisely this premise — the no need for a human behind the wheel — that explains why autonomous vehicles would make traffic safer. “A person who drives does so so consciously and automatically that they can become distracted. And today the number of possibilities for distraction is enormous”, says Camilo Adas, president of the board of SAE Brasil and leader in technology and innovation at the entity.
The human factor is decisive for most of the causes of accidents. O Atlas of Accidents in Brazilian Transport make that very clear. In 2020 (latest data available on the platform), of the 10 biggest causes of accidents, 7 were related to drivers' actions:
· Lack of attention: 24,102 accidents | 26,832 injured | 1,791 dead
· Disobedience to signs: 9,129 accidents | 11,042 injured | 1,029 dead
· Speeding: 5,878 accidents | 7,047 injured | 712 dead
· Alcohol intake: 5,434 accidents | 4,860 injured | 370 dead
· Not keeping a safe distance: 3,617 accidents | 4,041 injured | 88 dead
· Falling asleep at the wheel: 2,109 accidents | 2,605 injured | 251 deaths
· Improper overtaking: 1,081 accidents | 1,766 injured | 318 deaths
“A well-developed autonomous driving system is statistically safer than a human. It’s not that every person will make a mistake, but there is a high incidence of human error causing accidents,” says Adas. “At this time, the greater the support for driving, the safer the traffic becomes”, he adds.
"One of the drivers of vehicle automation is to minimize the number of deaths and traffic accidents. This is why this type of vehicle is so sought after”, agrees Rodrigo Vicentini, engineering manager for Latin America at Key Sight and components director at the Brazilian Electric Vehicle Association (ABVE).
In addition to safer, cleaner and more comfortable traffic
In addition to safer traffic, the experts who spoke with iFood News cite other benefits that greater autonomy in cars can bring to traffic and drivers.
“Because it is connected to the electrical universe, traffic will be less polluting”, says Vicentini. “An autonomous vehicle is not electric, but given the performance of an electrically powered car, mainly due to the response time of its components, it is more conniving and reliable if the autonomous vehicle is electric, and not combustion”, he explains.
Another benefit is comfort, which is already possible to experience in some cars with some level of autonomy and which share steering and speed control with drivers. “As driving becomes more comfortable, you avoid fatigue and allow the driver to, for example, sneeze or drink a bottle of water without having to slow down or pull over in a safe place,” says Adas.
Would this be the end of congested traffic too? One study carried out by the University of Berkeley (United States) observed the reduction in traffic and fuel consumption when the human-controlled car switched to automatic mode.
For Vicentini, freelancers would not be able to provide this answer. “This depends more on public policy than on the technology itself”, he says. According to him, the technology involved in autonomous vehicles would increase the reliability of information regarding traffic, but the problem would not be resolved without the existence of other modes and improvements in infrastructure.
When will we see more cars driven by no one?
A reality similar to that of the film “Minority Report”, released in 2001 and with some scenes of traffic taken over by autonomous vehicles (remember some here), is far away, but not that far away.
We still don't have cars with high or total autonomy (levels 4 and 5 of the autonomy scale). But we already have level 3 cars, in which the machine has control over the steering and it is up to the human to intervene when the technology cannot follow alone.
“We will see things happen quickly. What I can't predict is the date this will happen. But it’s well before 2050, for example,” says Adas.
For us to be more passengers and fewer car drivers, advances are needed in areas other than just technology.
It will be necessary to debate (a lot) about the culpability of an accident when there is no driver to be held responsible. Nor can we turn a blind eye to the risks of hacker attacks. And who will define what machine must do when you are in a situation where any alternative would result in an accident? “Society is not yet organized for this. Not in Brazil, not anywhere”, says Adas.
Furthermore, it is necessary to improve the road and technological infrastructure so that self-employed people can deliver everything that is expected of them safely. In an ideal scenario, cars and roads connect, cars talk to each other and the vehicle occupant can simply relax while the journey is made.
Does Brazil currently have this structure? “If a person buys a state-of-the-art car and brings it to Brazil, it will be unique in traffic. It won't have all the benefits, but if someone passes in front of the car, it will stop, avoid a collision and won't even let you change lanes”, says Vicentini.
If you are reading this text in the not-so-distant future of 2022: have we already managed to lower the number of accidents and deaths in Brazil?
