Are We Really Ready for Self-Driving Cars?

Numerous safety, legal, ethical, and logistical issues still exist as governments, industry, and consumers weigh the benefits of self-driving automobiles ("The Long, Winding Road for Driverless Cars," The Economist, May 25, 2017). This article discusses the different levels of autonomous vehicles from 1 (think cruise control) to 5 (fully automatic without a human in all types of driving conditions).

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to autonomous vehicles at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• automobiles automatic control
• autonomous vehicles
• traffic safety technological innovations

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming edited by Paul Hawken
Penguin Books, 2017
call number: 363.738 Dra (on order)

"Renowned environmentalist Paul Hawken has assembled a team of over 200 scholars, scientists, policymakers, business leaders and activists to illustrate the hundred most substantive solutions to combat climate change that together will not only slow down the growth of carbon emissions, but reverse them altogether (including a chapter on autonomous vehicles)." - publisher's summary excerpt

Robots by John M. Jordan
MIT Press, 2016
call number: 629.892 Jor (on order)

"He offers a guided tour of robotics today, describing the components of robots, the complicating factors that make robotics so challenging, and such applications as driverless cars, unmanned warfare, and robots on the assembly line." - publisher's summary excerpt

Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead by Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman 
MIT Press, 2016
call number: 388.342 Lip

"In this book, Hod Lipson (Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University) and Melba Kurman offer readers insight into the risks and benefits of driverless cars and a lucid and engaging explanation of the enabling technology. Recent advances in software and robotics are toppling long-standing technological barriers that for decades have confined self-driving cars to the realm of fantasy. A new kind of artificial intelligence software called deep learning gives cars rapid and accurate visual perception. Human drivers can relax and take their eyes off the road. When human drivers let intelligent software take the wheel, driverless cars will offer billions of people all over the world a safer, cleaner, and more convenient mode of transportation. Although the technology is nearly ready, car companies and policy makers may not be. " - publisher's summary excerpt