Self-Driving Cars review

Read the quotation from "America's Been Ready for Self-Driving Cars." What is the purpose of including the underlined comparison?

"In the U.S. alone, vehicular accidents have killed more than 32,000 people annually for the past five years for which data is available. That's as if five 737 jets crashed every week. It is more than double the number of people who have died worldwide in the recent Ebola epidemic."

• visualize the extreme number of car accidents that happen each year

• understand the complexities behind why car accidents happen

• understand that car accidents are a major problem that needs addressing

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Which two details best support the idea that cars driven by humans are more dangerous than self-driving cars?

• In the U.S. alone, vehicular accidents have killed more than 32,000 people annually for the past five years for which data is available.

• That's as if five 727 jets crashed every week.

• It is more than double the number of people who have died worldwide in the recent Ebola epidemic.

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that between 93 percent and 95 percent of these accidents are caused by human error.

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According to the excerpt of the article below, why might the cost of insurance likely go down with the introduction of self-driving cars?

"[C]ar ownership is a major expense. Using fleets of on-call vehicles saves not only the cost of a depreciating asset that spends 95 percent of its time idle, but also saves on the other major cost of a car: insurance."

• Self-driving cars would not cost as much as regular cars, so the insurance would be lower.

• People could "call" self-driving cars instead of owning their own cars, so they would not have to pay insurance.

• Self-driving cars would get into fewer accidents than cars driven by humans, so insurance costs would go down.

• A car spends the majority of its time idle, so a person shouldn't have to pay high insurance rates on it.

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Reread the quotation below. What is the most likely meaning of the word mitigated as it is used in this context?

"In your local newspaper, carefully read each account of a person killed or injured by vehicles. Then ask, would this tragedy have been avoided, or the injury mitigated, if one or more of the vehicles had been self-driving?"

• worsened

• deadly

• improved

• lessened

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Reread the quotation below. What is the most likely meaning of the word utility as it is used in this context?

"We tolerate this carnage because cars bring great utility and freedom. Self-driving cars deliver even greater utility by freeing driving time for other things - be it texting, working or just relaxing."

• freedom

• convenience

• inefficiency

• relevance

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Read the quotation below.

"Self-driving cars offer such a wealth of advantages that it makes little difference whether Americans are ready. Americans need to get ready. Just look in the mirror."

Which of the following inferences can be supported by this quotation? Select two inferences.

• The author believes that self-driving cars will be a regular part of our lives in the near future.

• The author expects self-driving cars to be popular with everyone.

• The author owns a self-driving car.

• The author thinks that self-driving cars will be beneficial to everyone.

• The author believes that if people have self-driving cars, they will become richer.

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Read the beginning of "Self-Driving Cars May Be More Lethal Than We Think."

"No one likes a backseat driver. Nagging, nannying. Questioning every decision, constantly attempting to correct what he or she considers to be your errors of judgment.

How about an 'it' doing the same thing? One you can't kick to the curb?

The 'it' in question is the backseat computer."

What effect does starting the article this way have on the reader?

• It makes the reader feel pleased that a self-driving car could correct the reader's mistakes while driving.

• It evokes a feeling of annoyance in the reader and then connects this feeling with the computer in a self-driving car.

• It causes the reader to worry that a self-driving car will not drive as well as the reader can.

• It evokes a feeling of unhappiness in the reader and then makes the reader feel better by introducing the idea of a self-driving car.

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What evidence supports the inference that the author of "Self-Driving Cars May Be More Lethal Than We Think" is not totally against self-driving cars?

• But taking the driver out of the equation entirely - or relying too much on technology - can have its downsides too.

• Also, how will autonomous cars deal with cars not autonomous, and what about the reverse?

• An even bigger problem with autonomous cars is how to program them to disregard traffic laws when it's necessary to do so in order to avoid an accident.

• These are some of the elements of the fully autonomous, self-driving car. And some of it sounds good - and may well be.

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Read the following quotation.

"An even bigger problem with autonomous cars is how to program them to disregard traffic laws when it's necessary to do so in order to avoid an accident.

For example, it's illegal to cross the double yellow line - but what if a child runs into the car's path and the only way to avoid hitting her is to swerve out of the way?

It's illegal, technically, to cross the double yellow - but it's the right thing to do. And a human driver would do it. An autonomous car wouldn't. Because it's programmed to obey the law. Unlike humans, it cannot use judgment and does not do nuance."

According to the author, why should the ability to break traffic laws be a feature of self-driving cars?

• The self-driving car might find itself in a situation in which it is necessary to break the law in order to save a life.

• The self-driving car should be able to act more like a human driver, and sometimes human drivers break traffic laws.

• Because human drivers around the self-driving car might break traffic laws, the self-driving car may find that it needs to break the law as well in order to prevent an accident.

• Self-driving cars should be programmed with artificial intelligence and the ability to use judgment.

Read this quotation from the article.

"Also, how will autonomous cars deal with cars not autonomous, and what about the reverse? Will people who own human-controlled cars be required to turn their cars in or no longer be allowed to drive them?"

What inference can logically be drawn from this quotation?

• The author is concerned that the advent of self-driving cars will cause people to lose their rights as drivers.

• The author thinks that, eventually, human-controlled cars will no longer be on the road.

• The author expects that the government will address the complex issues that come with moving toward a society in which self-driving cars are common.

• The author believes that there are too many unanswered questions about implementation and implications of self-driving cars for our society to start using them regularly.

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