There are plenty of legitimate concerns about the advent of the self-driving automobile — road safety chief among them. But if nothing else, our future robot-chauffeur overlords are presumed to be more efficient drivers, less prone to speed up and brake based on emotion and the irrational urge to get to work two minutes faster, safety be damned. Steadier speeds, slower acceleration, and less braking are a recipe for using less fuel, so driverless cars should be a boon for the environment, right?
Probably not, says Chandra Bhat, director of the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas. After a talk at SXSW Interactive in Austin, Bhat told KUT's Kate McGee that driverless cars will be great for people — without the need to drive, you can work or relax or even sleep during your morning commute. But that could reverse the trend away from gas-guzzling vehicles: People will probably want their mobile offices to be big and comfortable. They also may not mind longer commutes and be less likely to take public transportation. Thanks, Google. --Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
4 tips for keeping your resolutionsThe Week Recommends New Year's resolutions seem made to be broken, but with a few adjustments, you can give yourself a shot at sticking with it
-
'His disdain for international rules could eviscerate the laws of war'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Getty Images and Shutterstock merge into a picture powerhouse to combat AIThe Explainer The $3.7 billion deal is one of the largest in the industry's history
-
Death toll rises in LA fires as wind lull allows progressSpeed Read At least 24 people have died and 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders
-
Biden cancels Italy trip as raging LA fires spreadSpeed Read The majority of the fires remain 0% contained
-
Fast-spreading Los Angeles wildfires spark panicSpeed Read About 30,000 people were under an evacuation order as the inferno spread
-
Hundreds feared dead in French Mayotte cycloneSpeed Read Cyclone Chido slammed into Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean
-
Thirteen missing after Red Sea tourist boat sinksSpeed Read The vessel sank near the Egyptian coastal town of Marsa Alam
-
Global plastics summit starts as COP29 endsSpeed Read Negotiators gathering in South Korea seek an end to the world's plastic pollution crisis, though Trump's election may muddle the deal
-
Biden visits Amazon, says climate legacy irreversibleSpeed Read Nobody can reverse America's 'clean energy revolution,' said the president, despite the incoming Trump administration's promises to dismantle climate policies
-
At least 95 dead in Spain flash floodsSpeed Read Torrential rainfall caused the country's worst flooding since 1996
