What Developments Can We Expect in Road Safety in the Future?

There’s been a lot of talk about safety on the road in many circles lately, and it looks like this trend is only going to become even more prominent in the near future. This is a combination of multiple factors. On the one hand, many more people are now paying active attention to the issues around road safety and the possible courses of action that can be taken to address them. On the other, we’ve seen various technological advances in recent years – and more are right around the corner – that will completely shift the focus of the current situation towards the dialogue about safety.

The Rise of Driverless Cars

It’s hard to ignore the topic of self-driving cars with all the talk about them lately, both in the news, as well as social media and individual circles. Many people are excited for this technology, and rightly so. And while it will likely take some time until driverless cars are here for good and are widely accessible, we can already see multiple effects of their impending arrival to the market.

The main one is that more people have opened their eyes to the various issues surrounding road safety, especially in the context of more philosophical questions, such as what should a driverless car do when collision with a person is unavoidable without harming its own driver? We’re going to see these topics discussed in a lot of detail in the coming years, too.

Technological Advancements in Safety

Meanwhile, auto manufacturers have also made great progress in terms of making their cars safer and more appropriate for difficult conditions. From small things like side airbags to more advanced solutions like high-speed lane control, assisted parking, cameras constantly recording and various other sensors always collecting data about your trip – there’s quite a lot going on under the hood of a modern car, all to make your experience safer and more comfortable. Combining this with the rise of self-driving cars should result in some interesting developments on the market.

Stricter Legislation

Many countries are now paying more attention to the behaviour of their drivers on the roads, and we’re seeing a noticeable shift towards stricter penalties for those who endanger others with their cars. Driving under the influence is the most obvious example – many developed countries have been pushing for harsher legislation in this regard, and in some places, a driver may even risk losing their license for months at a time for just one infraction of this type.

It’s probably safe to assume that driverless cars are once again the main driving force behind this for multiple reasons. The most obvious one is that as we continue to shift power and responsibility from drivers to the automated systems controlling their vehicles, it makes sense to have harsher penalties in place for those who insist on retaining their manual control but show themselves to be prone to accidents. There has even been speculation that driving a car manually on public roads will be a thing of the past just a decade or two from now, but it’s hard to predict something as major as this.

Changes in Insurance

Who’s at fault if a driverless car crashes – the manufacturer or the owner of the driverless car? Debates about that issue are likely to continue for some time, but it seems likely car insurance will still be required when we move closer to a driverless society.

Similarly, while today’s motor trade insurance policies are unlikely to include coverage for work on driverless cars, it seems likely that those kinds of provisions will be added to motor trade policies once driverless cars become ubiquitous. After all, you might not be the one behind the wheel in the future, but someone will still need to wash, service and repair the vehicle.

Auto enthusiasts have been keeping a careful eye on the tech sector for a good reason – even those who don’t care much about gadgets and electronics in the first place. There’s a lot coming out of that area and crossing over into the world of cars, and it’s interesting to try predicting how the future is going to look in this regard. One thing is certain now though – the typical car on the road in just ten years is going to look drastically different from what we are used to now.