You know, self-driving cars use to be science fiction and now they are right on the border of being mainstream in this day and age. The hope is to have these autonomous car be self-driving without the need for human assistance and intervention or manual navigation. However, one of the common practices in new technology is the trial and error involved. In this case, the errors can be pretty detrimental if things go wrong for the person driving one of these vehicles. Let’s take a look at the top dangers of these self-driving robots.

1. Computer Malfunctions

Did you know that autonomous cars are made up of 30-100 computers, not just 1 like other cars. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with that kind of technology. The software that runs self-driving cars is admittedly sophisticated. However, one of the more difficult challenges that engineers struggle to solve is how to operate smoothly in all weather conditions. Correctly controlling sensors on the rear camera is also an issue. Executing a fast stop can become a particularly dangerous glitch in the system if someone were to cross on a sidewalk in front of a car. Some other concerns would be necessary to evaluate would be if these vehicles freeze-up during auto-pilot mode and how to account for the unpredictable maneuvers from surrounding vehicles.

2. Unregulated Industry

The information about the technology is very limited and although nearly 200 car industries have taken on these self-driving machines, the facts that are necessary to create a starting point for safety standards don’t really exist yet. With an unregulated car industry the manufacturers are pleased but it is not so good for the consumers. No matter how ground-breaking they are, self-driving cars must not compromise the safety, and must be fully tested as well as approved by regulators before they can be sold.

3. Combining Self-driving With Manual Cars Equals More Accidents

One of the key factors in driving is unpredictability. These self-driving cars have to have everything programmed into them and I really don’t think you can hit every situation that can possibly occur while out on the highways and roads which are not optimized for these autonomous cars. Extreme and tricky weather will be a challenge to navigate around.

Unless we did away with all manual vehicles and implemented all level five complete self-driving vehicles, which excludes most of the unpredictable behaviors of humans, then the false sense of security can be a real threat.

4.  Hacking and Remote Control

Being that self-driving cars rely heavily upon and almost solely on their computer programs, what happens if they are hacked? Just like our home computers, hackers can take over a program and things can go a-wire and all control lost. There is also the fact that theft to private data through cell phones and Bluetooth is a risk making personal data breaches an issue

5. Radiation

Exposure to higher levels of electromagnetic field radiation always sounds pleasant, doesn’t it! Well, with all of those on-board pleasures like GPS, remote controls, power accessories, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, music and radio, we become more susceptible to a myriad of serious health problems such as high blood pressure, difficulty breathing, migraines, exhaustions, eye issues and sleeplessness.

There are many things that need to be worked out before we ultimately save lives with no manual and all self-drive vehicles. All of the experts predict it but time is against them with all the kinks that have yet to be worked out. Also, solid safety guidelines and standards need to be in place.