Autonomous or self-driving vehicles are here! An autonomous vehicle could be one where it drives small distances on its own and needs a driver to take control regularly to one where the vehicle is completely controlled by an automation system and the passengers never need to take control of the vehicle.
There are several benefits to an autonomous vehicle:
Safety is #1
Imagine all vehicles cooperating in traffic, managing to posted speeds, going through school zones at posted speeds, etc. The number of fatalities could potentially reduce significantly.
Costs
Insurance premiums are sure to drop with less risk posed to fatalities & accidents. Vehicles may need to be serviced less if they are driven as per manufacturers specifications. Potentially, a single car could service multiple members of the family through scheduling, thereby reducing large expenditure on second cars.
Health benefits
Other than avoiding fatalities & injuries, anxiety, blood pressure and other health parameters will remain stable.
Other economic & societal benefits
Vehicles could have desks that allow passengers to be fully productive seamlessly simulating a remote-work-desk. Handicapped & aged people who are unable to drive, can benefit from such transportation to their destination more freely than today.
The advent of auto-pilot for passenger cars started a few years ago with Telsa, then it moved to cargo trucks and now has entered the field of agriculture. How soon before we all modes of transportation are completely on "auto-pilot"?
List of autonomous vehicle manufacturers