1. Read the instructions below.
2. Next read the two passages.
3. Then plan, draft, write, and edit an argumentative essay that states your claim about driverless cars, as well as the opponents’ view.
Essay Prompt: Cu
ently, a public debate is growing about the future of driverless vehicles. While these vehicles are still too expensive for mass production, the technology is fully in place and advancing. Some experts predict that driverless vehicles will become commonplace in the not-too-distant future. Those onboard with the technology welcome the development and predict safer roadways as a result; others, however, fear that driverless vehicles will make roadways even more unsafe.
Weigh the claims on both sides, and then write an argumentative essay in your own words supporting one side of the debate or the other. Be sure to use information from BOTH passages in your argumentative essay.
Writer’s Checklist
Be sure to:
• Introduce your claim.
• Support your claim with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, including facts and details, from the passages.
• Acknowledge and address alternate or opposing claims.
• Organize the reasons and evidence logically.
• Identify the passages by title or number when using details or facts directly from the passages. • Develop your ideas clearly and use your own words, except when quoting directly from the passages.
• Use appropriate and varied transitions to connect your ideas and to clarify the relationships among claims, counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
• Use clear language and vocabulary.
• Establish and maintain a formal style.
• Provide a conclusion that supports the argument presented.
• Check your work for co
ect usage, grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. Now write your argumentative essay on your answer document. Refer to the Writer’s Checklist as you write and proofread your essay.
Passage 1
Get Ready for Roadway Robots
Roadways in cities all over the world are crowded. With u
an expansion, the number of drivers in any one location is sometimes staggering. Aside from the obvious annoyances of traffic jams, longer commutes, and wasted gasoline, there is one larger issue that becomes paramount on crowded highways: traffic accidents. Research shows that the number one cause of all traffic collisions is driver e
or. Therefore, it makes sense that the use of driverless cars will be a welcome change.
Autonomous cars work by using elaborate technology systems that allow the car to drive on its own. While drivers may have the option to take over the controls during extreme scenarios, the car itself will make command decisions the majority of the time. As the technology continues to advance, this will include more accurate self-parking abilities and a lesser amount of input from the human occupant. Driverless cars are programmed to avoid collisions and other mishaps for which the human driver has been consistently to blame. Most accidents occur when the driver is not concentrating on the task of driving. By eliminating the need for the driver to focus, driverless cars will be able to prevent a majority of accidents. While more testing must be done in order to estimate the number of traffic-related deaths that could be avoided, it is promising that technology will remove operator e
or from the equation.
European experts predict that within the next one to two decades, driverless cars will become the standard. They cite overcrowding, environmental issues, and public safety as the three most compelling reasons. Newer technology means cleaner emissions and a more smoothly running highway system. Some experts even go so far as to suggest that the driver-operated vehicles of today are an outdated and harmful concept. Several well-known manufacturers are producing and testing autonomous cars in preparation for mass-market use, which they anticipate will begin within the next few years.
The time for drastic change has come for the automobile industry. As the population increases, something must be done in order to ensure safety on the road. By using technology to its fullest potential, lives can be saved and people can commute with confidence. Drivers will no longer have to wo
y about whether the drivers around them are using their cell phones as they drive. It will not matter, because the driverless car will usually be in control.
Passage 2
Putting the Brakes on Driverless Cars
It seems that people have a genuine dependence on technology in everyday life. Regularly, a new gadget makes an appearance, and everyone proclaims it to be just what society needs in order to function better than it did just the day before. While some advancements have made improvements on old ideas, some are questionable when put into practice. The latest example of one such invention is the driverless car.
Designers claim that they will eliminate the need for human drivers and prevent traffic collisions. However, studies show that no such result will be realized by using autonomous vehicles. Although driverless cars can avoid obstacles more quickly than human drivers, they are not beyond the laws of nature. Tests show that a driverless car can stop itself sooner than a human driver could stop it, but it will not miss an obstacle altogether if the obstacle appears suddenly. This means that if something darts out within close range of the car, the car will hit it. So far, the technology has not advanced to the point of sensing when and how to avoid rapid events. A human driver can at least make the distinction between a pedestrian and a cardboard box, for instance. The driverless car cannot do this on its own. During a closed-course test of the newest driverless car, the vehicle struck a mock cyclist, further disproving claims of safety.
Even if these vehicles were capable of avoiding all accidents, there will be times when they must be controlled by actual drivers. This presents a series of safety concerns. First, drivers will likely be less aware of their su
oundings than if they had been driving all along. Second, computers are notorious for functional e
ors. When the car malfunctions and the driver takes over, what will happen if the driver is not prepared to do so, particularly if driving on a busy highway? Another concern is that humans will be out of practice when it comes to driving, which means that skilled drivers will be rare.
While great advancements do help society, the driverless car is not one that needs to be pursued. To have these vehicles in the mainstream will simply add to the already overwhelming problem of traffic safety. Human mistakes are upsetting, but technological blunders are unacceptable when human lives are at stake.