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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 14, 2024 15 become the norm on roadways within the next few decades. That means companies are in a race to develop and refine the technology, even as questions remain about its practical applications. Lingering questions include: Would consumers choose self-driving cars over regular cars? Under what circum- stances can a human override an autonomous vehicle's computer? Can an autonomous vehicle speed, and if it does, is the manufacturer respon- sible, or is the person who owns it? But research and development is plowing ahead, with the expec- tation that those concerns will be ironed out. Autonomous vehicles are currently at level two or three of the Society of Automotive Engineers' automation scale, which means they require constant human supervision. Level five would be the point where cars are fully autonomous and don't require any input from a person, other than a destination. "You never touch anything in your car, maybe not even the door handle," Cortese said. "You walk up to your car, you get in, you tell it, 'Hey, I'm going to Stop & Shop.' The car drives you to Stop & Shop and parks." Rapidly improving technology Self-driving cars are already being used in some cities. Waymo LLC, owned by the Califor- nia-based technology giant Alphabet Inc., has debuted self-driving taxis in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles. They operate without a driver, and people can hail one using the Waymo app. Waymo vehicles — typically a modified Jaguar I-Pace, which is both fully electric and autonomous — are equipped with buttons for passengers to control functions such as "help," "lock," "pull over" and "start ride." The road hasn't always been smooth. In June, Waymo recalled 672 of its self-driving vehicles after one struck a utility pole in Phoenix. No one was injured, and the vehicle was unoccupied. Waymo has since updated its software and maps. In February, a cyclist suffered minor injuries when he was struck by a Waymo robotaxi in San Francisco. An investigation found the cyclist turned into the path of the car, and that the cyclist was obscured from its cameras by a truck, according to Reuters. According to Waymo, its vehi- cles have traveled 22 million miles and have experienced 84% fewer airbag-deployment crashes than a human driving the same distance in the cities where it operates. Using that same comparison, Waymo vehicles had 73% fewer injury-causing crashes and 48% fewer police-reported crashes. Driverless cars are currently prohib- ited on Connecticut roads. Jackson said the technology is rapidly improving and that self-driving cars should eventually eliminate the primary cause of crashes: human error. "The quickest route to getting to where we have no crashes on the roadway is by trying to develop cars that physically can't be involved in a crash," Jackson said. According to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 42,514 people killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2022, down 1.7% from 2021. Of the fatal crashes in 2022, 45% involved at least one of three contrib- uting factors: speeding, alcohol impairment or lack of using a seatbelt or child restraint. In Connecticut, fatal crashes are on the rise. As of Oct. 2, there were 245 traffic deaths in the state this year, up from 238 in 2023, according to UConn's Connecticut Crash Data Repository. Cortese, who has also led an impaired driving training program for law enforcement, blames human behavior. "You know, people do stupid stuff," he said. "Take their hands off the wheel; leave it to the car. We're going to be better off. It's just going to take a while to get there." UConn engineering professor Eric Jackson is the director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center in Storrs. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER We offer a wide range of traditional financing solutions and specialize in SBA lending to help take your business to the next level of success. TM IonBank.com • 203.729.4442 As a CT-based community bank serving local businesses for over 153 years, we can help you build your business. To learn more, call our Business Banking team at 203.729.4442. Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender NMLS# 641488 Pictured L to R: Joel Mastroianni, Tracey San Angelo, Virgilio Lopez and Garett Luciani.