It’s beginning to look like the self-driving car is becoming a reality. Google has been developing this technology for a while, and in March the corporation released a video of Steve Mahan, who has lost 95 percent of his vision, using the car to visit a Taco Bell drive-thru and to pick up his dry cleaning.  

The self-driving vehicle has two important aspects. First, the route a person wishes to take must be carefully programmed with a computer connected to the car. Second, radar and laser sensors pay attention for street signs and any potential approaching hazards.

However, Google’s video of Mahan’s trip leaves a few unanswered questions. How did the car know exactly where the drive-thru was in relation to the building? What happens on roads with heavier traffic and higher speed limits?

Nonetheless, the self-driving car looks to be a realistic innovation we will see on the roads someday. If that’s the case, it could lead to a metamorphosis of sorts for transportation in the U.S.

At this point, I don’t think anyone can know for certain how self-driving cars would change American automobile usage. We will have to wait until a significant amount of people are able to use them, so we can see how they respond and adjust their travel habits. But the possibilities seem endless.

A new study from J.D. Power and Associates has revealed that 20 percent of 17,400 U.S. vehicle owners said they “definitely would” or “probably would” include the technology in their next vehicle, even after learning its estimated market price of $3,000. According to the study, males were more interested in the feature than females, especially males between the ages of 18 and 37 and those living in urban areas.

Maybe families will save money and only own one car; it can pick up the kids from school, take them to baseball practice and then head to the office to bring mom and dad home from work.

Maybe people will “pimp their rides” to serve as a portable living room. No longer needing to focus on driving, we’ll install WiFi and refrigerators and become more attached to our cars than ever before.

Or maybe, having relinquished the fun of driving, we’ll become less attached to our cars and instead just share one car among relatives or neighbors. Schedule a time when you need to get from point A to B, and a car will take you there and then be on its way to another reservation.

Think of the potential increase in business that self-driving cars could bring to taxi services and rental car companies. Plus, the existence of parking lots to hold our cars while we work or go to class would no longer be necessary (students get their revenge on Parking Services!). This technology could free those masses of land, which were once parking lots, for better use.

Shipping companies might no longer need to hire drivers. Grocery shopping could become a delivery service, meaning the local Giant Eagle would start to look more like a warehouse. If some vehicles are still using gasoline engines, maybe cars would make their own trips to refill the tank, leading to the revival of gas station attendants.

It’s also difficult to estimate how long it would take for any of these things to come true. Perhaps I won’t be alive to see it — but just imagining it is rather exciting.

Sara Kovach can be reached at kova7636@stthomas.edu.