More than 30,000 people die in car crashes in the U.S. every year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says 41 percent of fatal crashes are caused by alcohol and the rest by distracted driving.
But Jim Barbaresso with engineering firm HNTB says there’s a way to prevent those accidents: take humans out of the equation.
“We’re really on the cusp of a transformation in transportation that’s being driven by advances in vehicle connectivity and automation,” Barbaresso said. “Those are the two trends that we’re seeing right now that will dramatically impact crashes in the future.”
Barbaresso is testing driverless technology in Florida. He said cars connected with Wi-Fi can share their location, speed and direction with each other.
He’s also taking his message of a driverless future to the stage in Jacksonville. He’s one of the speakers at the TEDxJacksonville conference taking place this Saturday, Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the WJCT studios. The conference is being streamed live on the TEDxTalks YouTube page.
