As we press forward with our new and exciting self-driving car technologies
, the Pollyannas are facing off against the Cassandras. It might be all ingenuity and excitement if you’re an engineer at Waymo, but for many scientists, doctors, and journalists, the flip side of the innovation coin is not to be ignored.
The macabre fact is that more driverless cars
mean a reduction in organ donation from victims of car accidents. What are we doing about that? Some unpleasant numbers
Driving ranks among the most dangerous everyday undertakings, along with the very mundane activities of cooking, showering, and texting. According to Interesting Engineering
, approximately 35,000 people die in car accidents each year, and 1 in 5 organ donations come from people who were involved in these accidents. If autonomous driving does what it ought to do, and greatly reduces accidents, then a major source of supply for people in need will be cut off. But this does, Interesting Engineering points out, introduce a paradox.
Fewer car accidents mean fewer injuries as well, so those who would have been in need of donations from car-related injuries would, thankfully, no longer make the list.
But of course—people need organs for a variety of reasons beyond car accidents. The organ problem remains.
But fret not: science is on the case
So what is being done to counteract this strange side effect of the autonomous driving revolution? The answer is in the same family as the question: build something that mimics the real thing.
NBC News
reports that scientists and doctors are using cutting-edge bioengineering technologies like 3D printing to make organs from scratch or fix up existing organs.One strategy, says NBC news, is to build organ molds, often based on human-friendly pig organs. These “scaffolds” are then used to regrow the sick organ, using (if possible) stem cells from the patient to lessen the likelihood of rejection.
Comparatively simpler apparatuses like bladders are already benefiting from this process, and scientists are working on trickier stuff like livers, lungs, and hearts.
Once these processes are refined and made ubiquitous, maybe we’ll no longer have an organ donor box to check on our licenses. They’re already growing those lungs in the lab. And your autonomous vehicle is a very careful driver indeed.
MORE: 8 Common Mistakes New Drivers Make Right After Getting Their License
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