Discussion
Your assignment asks you to describe and discuss the benefits and downsides of driverless cars and to include a comment on a quotation from the video in your discussion. In what follows, we will first look at the benefits and downsides of driverless cars presented in the two texts, and then give you some ideas on how to comment on the quotation.
The benefits and downsides of driverless cars
Both texts in your exam set present advantages and disadvantages of self-driving cars and can help you discuss the topic.
Here are the benefits of driverless cars presented in the CBS News video “Driverless car no longer just science fiction” (Text I) and Paul Waldman's article “The frightening truth about the future of driverless cars” (Text II):
- Driverless cars can drastically reduce the number of traffic accidents caused by human error, thanks to their automatic sensors and processing system. (Text I)
- Driverless cars could become flawless (perfect) driving systems. (Text I)
- They would allow their passengers to do other things while they are in the car without worrying about their safety (check emails, talk on the phone, or even put makeup on). (Text I)
- Driverless cars will gradually become accessible for the larger consumer market at a moderate extra cost. (Text I)
- Self-driving cars will reduce traffic jams. (Text II)
- They will save fuel consumption and time. (Text II)
- They would reduce the number of accidents caused by human error. (Text II)
- They could save lives by identifying a medical problem and taking people t
