Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Self Driving Cars

I am fascinated by Self Driving Cars. I want to do a writeup. One thing I find very interesting is the vast number of occupations that will have huge reductions or vanish, for which I cannot find a simple replacement brought on by this new technology. Here's a quick list.

Taxi Driver. Delivery Driver. Meter Maid. Traffic Division of police department. Ambulance Driver. Paramedics. Doctors and Nurses. Construction workers building parking lots/garages. Parking lot attendant. Auto body shop. Auto repair shop. Car manufacturing. Auto Advertising. Auto Dealer. Construction workers building new roads. Traffic Reporter (sorry Sal Castaneda). Car Magazines.

Curt Krone reminds me of Lawyers. No traffic court, no need for attorneys, judges, bailiffs, processing. Hey - no more DUI jury duty.

Nick Wade reminds me of the entire DMV. Also large parts of the traffic infrastructure is no longer needed, no speed limit signs, exit signs on freeways, etc... If stop lights still exist they sure won't need to be as complex. Do we still install guardrails? Probably in snowy/rainy regions.

1 comment:

Yokota Fritz said...

Will billboards and other roadway advertising still exist, given the occupants of self-driving cars will be watching Netflix or Hulu? Location based Internet advertising will become especially important -- Hungry? Order now for great deals at Henry's Roadside Diner and your lunch will be ready as you drive past.

And yes, the entire legal and financial industry that exists to serve car collisions will evaporate -- insurance, lawyers, traffic courts, traffic enforcement. I don't think you see it much in California given the speed trap laws we have here, but small towns all around America depend on speeding tickets for a big chunk of their municipal income. The town of Campo, Colorado on Hwy 287 derives over 90% of its income from speeding tickets http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/investigations/2015/05/01/citation-nation-tickets/26590321/