A new study by McKinsey & Company reveals that self-driving cars have the potential to generate billions of dollars in revenue for every year for each minute passengers spend on mobile Internet. There's also a speculation that self-driving cars, once their adoption becomes widespread, could result to a reduction in U.S. vehicle crashes by up to 90 percent.
The result could be that nearly $200 billion per year can be saved as a result of fewer injuries and deaths.
Every year, roadway crashes amount to $212 billion in damages. This includes property damage, hospitalizations, non-fatal but disabling injuries and deaths. Self-driving cars or those with advanced driver assistance systems have the potential to reduce the number of collisions by up to 90 percent once fully adopted. This means that the U.S. along could potentially save up to $190 billion a year.
The study also shows that self-driving cars can help improve traffic flow, which would allow commuters more time for other activities. One of these activities could be surfing the Internet.
"People will be able to shop for services or products from their mobile devices or from embedded systems in the vehicle," said Hans-Werner Kaas, senior partner and head of McKinsey's automotive practice.
When people purchase self-driving cars in the future, it is highly likely they will be able to save around 50 minutes of their time per day. This time could be used to surf the Web.
"This could potentially generate global digital media revenues of $5.6 billion for every additional minute people spend on the mobile Internet while in the car," said the report.
The revenues earned could be divided among various entities, including Web-based providers of information, goods and services, hardware and software suppliers and vehicle manufacturers.
The gradual shift of the auto industry to self-driving cars is not expected to accelerate until after 2025. By then, other changes in the auto industry should also be expected. Among them should be a shift in insurance policies from human error coverage to technical failure; a shift from going to a franchised servicing company to independent shops that can be easily accessed by self-driving cars for repairs and maintenance; and the projected decline in the number of shops as consumers will less likely have to go in person as cars of the future will be diagnosed and updated wirelessly.
