1. Self-Driving Vehicles Take to the Streets
Ford, Nissan, Toyota and Tesla all project that autonomous vehicles will be sharing the road 2020. Business Insider estimates the total number at 10 million. Consumers may get excited by this prospect because it means unlimited texting while driving (without the dirty looks from the person whose lane they are invading) and possibly catching a quick gridlock nap.
For the estimated 1.2 million trucking companies in the U.S., self-driving vehicles could completely change everything. More than $1 trillion of manufactured and retail goods are transported via truck within America and to and from Mexico and Canada. Having these transported by machines, and not humans, is expected to offer several safety advantages.
After an exhausted Walmart truck driver hit a limo bus carrying comedian Tracy Morgan in 2014, critically injuring him and killing passenger James McNair, the company and its insurers were forced to pay a reported $90 million to Morgan and $10 million to McNair's estate.