Recently in the news, the Tesla self-driving car has been one of the most exciting and innovative topics of discussion. A self-driving car would make traveling much easier and safer with its laser-based system and camera systems to detect vehicles and objects up to two-hundred and thirty feet away. Amazing! Even more surprising, an article from trucks.com says that the self-driving vehicle may come to the trucking industry before the consumer car market. This is being done by a company called Otto that is developing hardware kits that can change existing commercial trucks into autonomous vehicles.
What will this mean for the trucking industry? The goal is to reinvent transportation in order to create a safer more productive way to move the material we need. This innovation will take the stress off of the trucking industry, especially with all of the accidents and sleep apnea reports in the news lately. So, in a perfect world autonomous trucks are the answer, but could these trucks just prove to be more dangerous?
Although no reports have been made about incidents with self-driving trucks, the self-driving Tesla was recently involved in a fatal crash. The crash was said to have occurred when a tractor-trailer made a left turn in front of the Tesla, and the car failed to apply the brakes. These vehicles may be self-driving, but that does not completely remove the responsibility of the driver to pay attention when the technology could fail or make a mistake. If self-driving trucks are launched, the truck drivers will still have an obligation as a driver to stay focused, especially because a truck can do much more damage than a car. With new technology will come new rules and regulations, so stay tuned for updates and let us know what you think about the self-driving truck.
Check out this video to see the Otto Self-Driving Truck in action!
