"Virtually every major automaker — along with an assortment of industry suppliers and some non-traditional players like Google parent Alphabet — are racing to put not only autonomous, but even fully driverless, vehicles on the road," Paul A. Einstein of NBC News reports. The fantasies of the future are coming faster than many had anticipated.
The drastic change that may soon be seen in our streets comes with a wave of hesitance. Many do not want to put their life in the hands of technology. Truthfully, technology is much more trustworthy than humans when it comes to driving, for 90% of car accidents are due to human errors such as drunk driving or simply running through a stop sign. Also, autonomous features already exist in cars. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated the electronic stability control, which is an autonomous feature that was made mandatory for cars to have in 2011, saved over 2,200 lives between 2008-2010. Driverless cars are not going to just appear on one day making everyone have to adjust to this novel way of living. It is a gradual change that includes several phases. Our current phase is when the driver has full control, but there are automated systems. The next phase, partial autonomy, is where the car can steer and accelerate, but the driver must be ready to take control at any moment. The third phase is high autonomy, so the driver can take control when needed, but the car mainly controls itself. Finally, the last phase is full autonomy. 
Aside from drastically decreasing the percentage of car accidents, these driverless vehicles may join the effort in decreasing pollution. It may be mandated that all driverless cars must be electric. Since cars are the leading cause of air pollution, this will immensely benefit our world. A future with driverless cars is nearing, and we are in for quite the ride.- Sarah
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