How Will Self-Driving Trucks Affect Safe Roadways?

Self-driving trucks have gotten a lot of attention lately for the very reason that they drive themselves. While we’ve all heard that self-driving trucks are coming, most of us aren’t aware that they’ve already arrived – apparently. At least one company is quietly testing its self-driving big rig, even as the associated dangers are not yet fully understood. If a negligent trucker – or a negligent self-driving truck – leaves you injured in a truck accident, you need the professional legal counsel of an experienced Cumming truck accident attorney on your side.

CNN’s 60 Minutes Reports on Driverless Trucks

CNN’s 60 Minutes did some exploring and discovered all of the following:

  • Some truck companies are already sending driverless trucks out on our roads.
  • Experts agree that, when it comes to driverless trucks, it is a question of when – not if - they become mainstream.
  • Major tech players and much smaller disruptors are all involved in a high-stakes race to be the first to get driverless trucks out on the road (rather than in their current testing capacity).
  • With such a shift, many truck drivers will likely lose their jobs, while trucking companies stand to increase their profits dramatically.
  • 70 percent of consumer goods are delivered to us via the trucking industry.

Big rigs play an important role in our lives and in our economy, and the advent of self-driving trucks could shake things up considerably.

A Self-Driving Truck’s Maiden Voyage

An upstart tech company recently sent a driverless rig that weighed in at 35,000 pounds on its merry way without a backup driver on deck (most test drives include a backup driver – just in case something goes wrong), and it was a first. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you didn’t know about it (because very few people did). In fact, even truck drivers have been astounded to learn about this solo flight. For now, most other companies in the self-driving truck biz are hedging their bets with backup safety drivers. One such company, however, shares that it has plans to launch a fully driverless truck in 2021.

Does Having No Driver Translate to Increased Safety?

The companies that are cranking out self-driving trucks firmly believe that they are offering a safer alternative to having truck drivers behind the wheel. This is because they eliminate the risk of trucker negligence, including distraction, impairment, excess speed, aggression, exhaustion, and noncompliance with the rules of the road. To date, however, there is little transparency about the safety stats associated with these driverless rigs, due to the proprietary nature of their technology. Time will tell.

Don’t Wait to Consult with an Experienced Georgia Truck Accident Attorney

If someone else’s negligence leaves you injured in a truck accident of any sort, the dedicated Forsyth County truck accident attorneys at Banks, Stubbs & McFarland have an impressive track record of successfully helping clients like you fully recover their physical, financial, and emotional damages. To learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact us online or call us at 770-887-1209 today.