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How driverless cars will improve the future of driving

By | January 11, 2013, 12:16 PM PST

It’s not just Google in the driverless car business anymore. Toyota and Audi announced this week that they are moving closer to driverless cars. And Ford chairman Bill Ford Jr. has predicted the rise of semi-autonomous cars between 2017 and 2025 and fully-autonomous cars after 2025.

It’s an exciting prospect to imagine cars driving themselves. But besides having this science fiction-like future where you could make a red-eye drive across the country, there are other promising benefits of driverless cars. A new infographic produced by InsuranceQuotes.com makes the case that cars that drive themselves will make drivers safer and make driving more efficient and have less of an impact on the environment.

But not everyone thinks driverless cars will bring a bright future, but instead one with more congestion, pollution, and, hey, don’t we already have something where you can get someplace without driving? Oh yeah.

Still, the status quo for car safety isn’t good. In the U.S. alone there are 30,000 automobile deaths each year. Put another way: More people die on U.S. roads in three months than have died in the decade-long war in Iraq and Afghanistan. If driverless cars can reduce that, they’ll be worth it.

[h/t Government Technology]

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Tyler Falk

About Tyler Falk

Tyler Falk is a contributing editor for SmartPlanet.

Tyler Falk

Tyler Falk

Contributing Editor

Tyler Falk freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. Previously, he was with Smart Growth America and Grist. He holds a degree from Goshen College.

Follow him on Twitter.

Tyler Falk

Tyler Falk

Tyler does not have financial holdings that would influence how or what he covers.

He writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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Seeing is Believing!
Driver-less cars? Seriously! I just can't believe that! However true and real it might seem, i will believe when i finally find a car on the road driving itself. But for now, to me its just a theory!
http://4wheelonline.com/Moto_Metal_Wheels.67133
Posted by Neomy
23rd Jan
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