In the first part of self-driving cars, I talked about impacts to insurance and licensing regimes. There are some very exciting opportunities to empower people with disabilities. There are a whole set of social and regulatory impacts that need some pondering. Let’s be explorers and see what the future holds for us.

Do we need speed limits?

Speed limits are primarily driven by human ability to control a car in various situations. Our cognitive ability, processing audio-visual signals, taking action (hand eye feet co-ordination) plays a big part in deciding these limits (reference). In case of self-driving cars, this is essentially driven not by driver behaviour but by the road conditions and braking distance at given speed for the car. Further, if the cars can communicate with each other, then this would allow cars to brake at the optimum time. In such a scenario, would we really need speed limits? It is entirely conceivable that cars can go at the highest speed possible given the conditions without need for speed limits.

Will average time of travel increase or decrease?

This is my favourite one. In speaking to a number of people about self-driving cars, one of the themes was I am late to my meeting/dinner/party, and I need to rush. A self-driving car won’t break the rules of speeding would it? More generally, the concern is that the self driving car would be slower and hence travel times will increase. I think the answer to travel times is linked to the previous point about speed limits and the next one about road signs. If there are no speed limits, and cars can automatically adjust to their environment, they will have to brake less. There is a much higher probability that the cars will have a much higher speed. Further, due to reduction in risk of accidents, less traffic stoppages are to b e expected I would theorize that travel times will be cut down.

What happens to road signs?

Imagine this scenario: there is a four-way stop sign, and four self driving cars come to it. They all stop and proceed as per current custom. The stop and start increases the travel time and is less fuel efficient due to idling, braking and accelerating. It is entirely possible that the cars communicate with each other and work out a speed that allows them to pass the intersection without stopping. Don’t believe it is possible? Check out this video of columns of Japanese soldiers precision marching through each other! It is definitely something. If humans can do it, surely machines can emulate?

Will self-driving cars be more eco-friendly?

This is a natural consequence of driving habits. There are many initiatives afoot to inculcate better driving habits. My Honda vehicle has an ECO light that turns on every time I am driving efficiently. For example, this article says you could save unto 20% on fuel with better driving habits.
Given that self-driving cars could be coded to be better drivers, implications for fuel savings, and the environment, assuming cars still run on fossil fuels, could be huge!

A number of these may only be realized when most of the cars on the road are self driving. However, they are interesting consequences for society and road transportation. As always, would love to discuss these with you. Please don’t be shy and comment with your thoughts.