Its 2016 and technology is certainly booming. Its only going to continue to rise as the years come. Obama’s administration has recently proposed putting $4 Billion into a plan that will get self-driving cars on the roads in the near future. Thats actually pretty cool!
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, says that President Obama will ask congress to put $3.9 billion into the 2017 budget to start the plan of self-driving cars. During the Detroit Auto Show, he said,
“If the government doesn’t change its ways, drivers in the future will not be moving on the highways — they will be crawling in traffic. In 2016, we are going to do everything we can to advance safe, smart innovation. We are bullish on automated vehicles.”
According to Foxx, this plan will eliminate approximately 25,000 fatalities each year. It will also reduce the number of traffic accidents that happen due to human mistakes. He said,
“We’re entering a new world here, and we know it. We ask ourselves what if human error could be eliminated? That is a possibility worth pursuing.”
Foxx states that statistics show that as many as five accidents occur due to mistakes on the driver’s end. The department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is going to draft the legal side rules that will be put with the self-driving cars.
The transportation secretary says,
“We are on the cusp of a new era in automotive technology with enormous potential to save lives, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transform mobility for the American people will provide the foundation and the path forward for manufacturers, state officials and consumers to use new technologies and achieve their full safety potential.”
During Obamas final State of the Union address, he said that the United States will, “put tens of thousands of Americans to work building a 21st century transportation system.”
General Motors also said they were going to look into doing research on such inventions. They claim they will be putting $500 million into the research.
This all seems pretty interesting especially if it will be safe.
Source: WashingtonTimes
