Autonomous vehicles are no longer science fiction. They’re already being tested in pilot programs in select areas around the U.S. Proponents of autonomous vehicles assert they will significantly reduce traffic accidents and save lives, while also reducing traffic congestion due to more efficient driving practices. However, a fully autonomous future may have some surprising side effects.
Municipal Budget Shortfalls
If you’ve ever been pulled over and given a ticket, you know all too well the strain on your wallet it can cause. A traffic ticket may result in a fine of several hundred dollars, depending on what the violation was and which municipality you were driving in. While traffic ticket data is hard to come by, some estimates have suggested that in the U.S., it’s a multi-billion dollar “business.” In other words, each municipality relies on traffic tickets to generate a portion of its budget. If the roadways become fully autonomous and these autonomous vehicles function as they are supposed to, then there will no more traffic tickets. Towns and cities will be forced to look elsewhere for the revenue, and this may lead to increased property taxes.
Law Enforcement Job Reductions
Picture a town that only has autonomous vehicles on its roads. There are no accidents, no one speeds, and no one runs red lights. Given these assumptions, there will also be no need for traffic cops to police the roads. Since the cars operate without any input from the driver, there is also presumably no need to enforce drunk driving laws. The result may be that fewer jobs in law enforcement will be available. However, the upside of this is that reducing their law enforcement budget may allow cities to at least partially compensate for the budget shortfall caused by the elimination of traffic violation fines.
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