In the News Driverless cars may worsen the organ shortage, but science has answers
When the fleets of driverless cars start rolling out, they’re expected to decrease road deaths.
Humans cause an estimated 94 percent of road fatalities, and autonomous vehicles will likely lower that rate. But there’s a catch.About 1 in 5 organs used for transplants come from car crash deaths. If self-driving cars mean fewer people die behind the wheel, what does that mean for the organ shortage?
Roughly 6,500 people in the U.S. die waiting for an organ transplant every year. That doesn’t even include those cut from the list because they’re “too sick.”
