It’s been known for years now that driver fatigue is a serious risk – both on and off the job. A study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found fatigue was the top cause of driver distractions, representing 20 percent of all motor vehicle accidents. We’re just not getting enough sleep.
Not long ago I bought a new car. It had been a while. While I was on the sidelines, the auto industry has been experiencing unprecedented transformation. One researcher claims there will be ten million self-driving cars on the road by 2020, with one in four cars being self-driving by 2030.
On Valentine’s Day in Silicon Valley, one of Google’s experimental, self-driving cars sideswiped a city bus at 2 miles an hour. The incident marked the first time an autonomous car contributed to an accident on a public road, but did nothing to diminish the Obama administration’s enthusiasm for driverless vehicles.
