This may sound scary and ironic, but autonomous car technology is being brought to a heavier vehicle. This time it will be to trucks. Self-driving technology has been done for years now. Companies that focus on this kind of technology have made successful tests on the highways. But the tests are only for the small vehicles. This time, the developers are gearing toward autonomous trucks.
According to a web post via Tech Crunch, Otto, a 4-year-old company that is founded by ex-Googlers, is bringing autonomous driving to heavy trucks. Otto is founded by Anthony Levandowski, Lior Ron, Don Burnette and Claire Delaunay. Both Levandowski and Ron made a statement that trucks have been one of the agents of pollution in the U.S. as these bring out 28 percent of road pollution and cause a large number of fatalities. Additionally, there are also lesser truck drivers nowadays. These are the reasons why these Otto founders believe that it is a perfect venue for a technology-based solution. They even stated that this autonomous heavy truck will let the driver sleep while the vehicle is running autonomously. It may sound crazy but the developers have some good explanation negating the possibility of accident.
According to Fox News, Levandowski insisted that self driving trucks are not as scary as people think. Robot truckers are less likely to step on the gas or continue driving in difficult situation like what humans tend to do. He even added that it is between 10 and 20 percent of the approximate 4,000 fatal accidents in the U.S. involve trucks and buses, which are linked to fatigue driving.
Otto has already assembled a crew with 40 people who are experienced in creating self-driving car technology. It may sound scary but people need to know that technology is there to support whatever things and updates are to be made. Of course, these people behind these futuristic ideas have great minds.
