Band 6+: Film stars and celebrities often share their views on public matters that have little to do with their profession. Is this a positive or negative development?

In today’s society, owning to the rapid development of technology, a wide range of vehicles will be autonomous. I believe that the benefits of this trend eclipse the drawbacks.

Granted, there are certain demerits to the rise of self-driving vehicles. Chief of these is the potential of unreliability of such vehicles. Specifically, some worry that this innovation might have a technical problem, such as a malfunction in the navigation system, can jeopardize passengers in both vehicle and traffic. This is particularly the case for Tesla which is a prominent corporation specializing in autonomous cars. It has received a great number of complaints regarding the reliability of its driverless cars, making some skeptical about whether such cars are sophisticated enough to work consistently in varying weather and road conditions. However, the aforementioned issue can be easily overcome by the momentous technological advancement.

In contrast, I am convinced that the disadvantages of this trend are pale in significance when compared to its advantages. The first primary reason is that driverless automobiles help reduce human errors while driving, increasing safety on roads. Given that numerous car accidents are results of reckless driving behaviors, such as speeding or driving while intoxicated, autonomous car is a practical and effective solution to tackle the situation. This does not necessarily mean that self-driving vehicles are not prone to errors; however, these errors are rare, and in most cases, the incidents relating to these are the catalyst of human faults. Another benefit of self-driving vehicles is that the government can save an enormous amount of budgetary expenses on maintaining and upgrading traffic facilities. When vehicles are autonomously controlled, there would be fewer needs for installing speeding cameras, maintaining road signs, as well as paying for traffic policemen, allowing more funds for other key areas including education and tourism.

In conclusion, despite the problem of consistency, I would contend that increasing road safety and decreasing traffic expenses can comprehensively fulfill the applications of self-driving vehicles, and therefore, the government and businesses should invest more into this promising innovation.