CES 2019: Riding a self-driving Lyft car made me giddier than I have any right to be

CES 2019: Riding a self-driving Lyft car made me giddier than I have any right to be

5 years ago
Anonymous $L9wC17otzH

https://www.cnet.com/news/ces-2019-riding-a-self-driving-lyft-car-made-me-giddier-than-i-have-any-right-to-be/

Lyft's interest in self-driving cars is just one example of how autonomous technology will change driving behavior. Self-driving cars are being embraced by the entire automotive industry, from Chevy to Volvo. Reducing a dependence on human drivers will make roads safer in theory, as the technology on-board -- lidar, cameras and a pile of sensors -- are designed to help avoid crashes, swerves and sudden shifts in speed. The advent of 5G wireless technology will also play a significant role, helping autonomous cars and buses talk to each other and to smart lights, to keep traffic patterns more predictable, and therefore more safe.

However, this idyllic vision is still years, or possibly decades away, and the going is slow. Lyft rival Uber took its self-driving cars off the road after a fatal pedestrian crash in Arizona last March, the first ever for a fully autonomous development vehicle. And regulators and passengers alike remain skittish about the safety of a 3-ton machine that can get around on its own.