Welcome to part two of a possible driverless future. In this
case, government will take a major loss in revenue from us not driving anymore.
And also, how roads will change to accommodate driverless cars. Let us
discuss.
Can't have us pay fees: So we will not need a driver’s
license. As such, the State governments will lose that revenue from us
having to pay to get a new license. There will be no more traffic tickets
either, so the millions in collected money from stop sign cameras and parking
tickets will vanish as robots always follow the rules. Also, no need to
own car insurance and thus no way to tax people if they are no longer paying
for it. Literally, as a robot is driving, there will be no more accidents
save a random malfunction, but that will not matter to you, the driver, as you
no longer are liable for an accident. The malfunction becomes the cause
of the accident as there will be no blame to go around. So laws punishing
people for driving without a license or insurance will vanish. Can't fine
people for driving under the influence, or reckless endangerment as the car is
driving, not you.
The roads themselves change: It is said that we can remodel an
entire city a year with eight trillion dollars (make it green and healthy to
live in). But in this case, we can cut down on that cost as with
driverless cars, there will be no traffic lights, signs or even lines on the
road. You simply will have to maintain the road itself. All that
electricity and materials can disappear. And perhaps all the traffic
intersections will transform into traffic circles so as to accommodate a
non-stop flow of traffic. Why have any kind of traffic sign if no one is going
to need them to drive. In fact, the only thing even remotely sign related
will be advertisements on those former traffic signs which will aid in paying
for the roads upkeep.
Maintaining the roads: With all that lost revenue, the
cities and States will need to replace it to maintain roads and to provide for
regular services. So advertisements by companies will be bought to
replace old signs on the side of the road and above them. If you own a
vehicle, the taxes/fees to register your own car(s) will go up, including the
cost for an inspection. Companies that run taxi like services may see an
increase in taxes too, but that will be balanced by not having to pay for the
cost of a driver. This too will also balance out by not having to pay
insurance. Additionally, local taxes may increase to accommodate lost
revenue instead. It all depends on the city or State you live in.
However, I doubt it will increase that much if at all. For one,
signage, and maintenance of all other aspects of driving outside of maintaining
a road surface will vanish. That means less personal and less work and
costs. Also, police will no longer have to drive the highways to maintain
safety against reckless drivers, which means personnel there may be able to be
cut down as well. Essentially why would they really need to increase costs
that much, when they will be spending even less to maintain order and safety on
the roads in the first place?
Conclusion: I don't know the timeline, but all
of this can come to pass. Who knows, all cars may become smart cars and
thus you will not need signs in the first place as the car will know when
another car is coming and slow down or stop for you at a corner. The
sky's the limit with technology and what will change with respect to driving.
Look forward to it.
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