With the increased use of AI technology, self-driving cars are becoming more and more popular, but they are not always the safest, most reliable, and environmentally friendly choice. 

When was the last time you were driving a car and an animal ran onto the road. You had to make a quick decision of what you wanted to do: slam on the breaks, hit the animal, or swerve into the lane next to you. Well, when you’re getting behind the wheel of a self-driving vehicle, you are allowing AI technology to make that choice for you.

The problem with that is, computers don’t have judgment. If this hypothetical situation happens, the car is programmed to slam on the breaks. Now, if anytime something quickly flashes on the road, the car is programmed to slam on the brakes. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the rate of rear ending crashes for self-driving cars is higher than normal cars. 

There are many reports of the cars just stopping in the middle of the road. There have been crashes where the car stops in the middle of an intersection for no reason. The random unpresidented stopping of self-driving cars is called phantom braking. In May 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received 758 complaints about phantom braking in model 3 and model y cards. From a German news article Handelsblatt, they received 1500 braking complaints and 2400 rapid acceleration complaints from Tesla owners. 

Self-driving cars are also equally as bad for the environment, maybe even worse, according to MIT studies. Most self-driving cars are electric, but the AI that powers the cars and helps them drive is a big computer that requires lots of energy. According to Euro News the power and energy that is used for the computers can emit more than 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year if these cars become more common.

Tech companies should be focusing on improving the cars sustainability and making cars more environmentally friendly instead of producing more self driving cars that are damaging the environment.