Thank you to Giles Kirkland for the guest post below. Giles is a car expert and new automotive technologies passionate with over a decade of experience in the niche. He constantly researches on the latest studies, cutting-edge findings, and perspectives for the future. Keen on increasing his own knowledge as well as helping to educate others, he shares his expertise with tech enthusiasts and drivers across the globe. You can find him on Twitter and at Oponeo.

For decades, people have been looking forward to autonomous vehicles as they’ve always been considered to be the future of modern cars. Lately, they’ve become an active part of the news as major players like Tesla, Uber and Google have began experiments and testing. Most media outlets refer to these vehicles with praise. However, if you look closer, you’re sure to find mixed opinions. While some people are incredibly happy about the technology, many are still afraid of it.

The ethical dilemma: Will self-driving cars make moral decisions in the same way human drivers do? Drivers are required to make split second decisions that they make on moral grounds and some people think machines will be incapable of making such a choice.

The latest research shows that autonomous vehicles can be given the ability to make such moral decisions by using some simple algorithms, yet it’s still unclear if they will choose between saving the driver or killing less people.

Fear of losing control: People fear losing control in many areas of life. Aviophobia, the fear of flying, is a great example. Just like dreading the thought of not being able to control a plane, many future passengers still fear letting go of their steering wheel. So there are solid grounds for this phobia. On the other hand, human driving is not error-free and the chances of it occurring could be minimized with autonomous cars.

Lack of understanding: Whenever a new technology is introduced, the lack of understanding is what causes most of the non-acceptance. Many people are afraid of driverless vehicles because they fail to understand them. A little awareness and education regarding this topic would go a long way and would definitely improve the way self-driving cars are perceived .

A questionable track record of safety and comfort: The first fatal driverless car crash happened in March this year. While it led to Uber temporarily suspending its self-driving programs, it once again raised the question about the driverless car’s bad track record for crashes. However, when you compare statistics, the number of collisions per miles driven is much lower for driverless cars.

Claims about self driving cars making people queasy have also recently appeared. Fortunately large companies such as Uber are coming up with ideas that will resolve the problem fast.

Employment issues: Most technological advancements come with the fear of unemployment as technology tends to replace human workers. In this case, it would mostly be taxi and truck drivers who could lose their jobs. Hopefully, this technology will bring new opportunities and society will eventually adapt to the change and benefit from it.

Driving as a hobby: Many people choose to drive just because it is something they enjoy or have fun doing. Self-driving cars should in no way cause them to miss out on fun. There most likely will continue to be a market for such enthusiasts. Perhaps some models will have both options, to be driven manually and autonomously.

There are definitely some serious concerns regarding driverless cars, but most of them have already been or will be addressed and the pros surely outweigh the cons. In fact, according to one study, self-driving cars are expected to reduce traffic accidents by as much as 90%. The existing issues hopefully will be resolved soon and this new technology will make our lives much more safer, efficient and convenient.