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- The impact of self-driving cars is anticipated to be wide-ranging on many areas of daily life. Self-driving cars have been the subject of significant research on their environmental, practical, and lifesyle consequences. One significant predicted impact of self-driving cars is a substantial reduction in traffic collisions and resulting severe injuries or deaths. United States government estimates suggest 94% of traffic collisions are caused by human error, with a 2020 study estimating that making 90% of cars on US roads self-driving would save 25,000 lives per year. While this has significant benefits, other health downsides of self-driving cars are predicted; self-driving cars are suggested to worsen air pollution, noise pollution, and sedentary lifestyles, and may contribute to shortages of donor organs. Self-driving cars are anticipated to increase productivity and housing affordability, as well as reclaim land used for parking. However, they are also predicted to cause greater energy use, traffic congestion and sprawl. The impact of self-driving cars on absolute levels of individual car use is not yet clear, with commentators alternatively predicting increases and decreases. Self-driving cars are one of several potential autonomous vehicles, and other forms of self-driving vehicles, such as self-driving buses, may decrease car use and congestion in ways self-driving cars are unlikely to. The effect of self-driving cars on various employment fields is predicted to be wide-ranging. Impacts are anticipated on the healthcare, insurance, travel, and logistics fields. Auto insurance costs are expected to decrease, and the burden of cars on the healthcare system to reduce. Self-driving cars are predicted to have substantial and wide-ranging effects on transportation industries, with significant job losses in these fields. (en)
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