Google self-driving cars coming to Phoenix area

With Google testing its self-driving cars on Phoenix streets, reporter Ryan Randazzo interviewed Professor of Information Systems Robert St Louis about the impact of the new technology.

With Google testing its self-driving cars on Phoenix streets, reporter Ryan Randazzo interviewed Professor of Information Systems Robert St Louis about the impact of the new technology. From The Arizona Republic, April 7, 2016:

Bob St. Louis, professor of information systems at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, said that self-driving cars raise a variety of interesting issues from who is liable in accidents to what kind of decisions the vehicles are programmed to make if collisions are imminent. But he said there seems to be little doubt they will become more common as major automakers all expect to have some version of autonomous vehicles on the road by 2020.

"I'm 71, and I always tell my kids they won’t have to take my keys away from me because I will have a self-driving car," St. Louis said. "And insurance agents will tell you, with teenage male drivers, it is not if they will have an accident, it is when. There is no question it is going to be much safer for people at the older end and people at the younger end."

While people raised from the 1950s through 1970s have strong connections to their vehicles, younger people seem more comfortable with giving up driving, he said.

"People don't mind using Uber," he said. "What is the difference?"