by John P. Thomas
Health Impact News

Driverless cars are seen as the next big market potential for the automotive industry.

But before we get too excited about these driverless cars, we need to carefully consider the many levels of health risks involved with this technology, as well as the loss of privacy. Vehicle crashes and fatalities are minor concerns compared to potential human DNA damage and increased risks of cancer.

Now that the fifth generation (5G) of small microwave cell towers is being rolled out by telecom companies, their 5G press releases keep reminding us how their new technology will give us instantaneous internet downloads and will permit us to use driverless cars. [1, 2, 16]

Of course, these press releases never mention the potential health risks.

Driverless cars are already on the road in very small numbers as part of ongoing research and tests. But it is projected that within seven years, we will see a proliferation of driverless cars traveling down our roads.

There will also be very large numbers of cars with Driver Assist Systems (DAS), which supposedly help drivers avoid accidents. [3, 4]

DAS Technology: Computers Take Over – Privacy Gone

DAS equipped cars warn drivers when they start migrating out of their lane or get to close to another vehicle. DAS active cruise control can slow the car or speed it up depending on proximity to other vehicles on the road, and DAS cars can even take total control over the car to handle the sometimes-difficult process of parallel parking. [4]

Both DAS and driverless cars will require on-board computers and multiple on-board microwave radar systems. They will be tied into the 4G and 5G cell tower system through hotspot technology built into the car. The combination of vehicle hotspot antennas and 5G cell towers will allow vehicles to communicate with one another to avoid accidents. [3]

Eventually, this technology will even permit a central traffic control computer to manage traffic flow. These central computers could even be used to slow or speed up vehicles and even stop them if needed. This system will track the activity of every car on the road and even record information about who is driving the vehicles. [3]

From DAS to Driverless Cars – More Microwave Exposure

The main difference between driverless cars and DAS cars lies in the amount of technology that will be used.

Driverless cars will use much more technology. These cars will have visual scanning cameras, laser sensors, and lots of microwave radar systems. Self-driving cars may have up to 10 microwave radar systems using very high frequency radiation, but DAS cars also use microwave radar.

Each radar system will use a different frequency of microwaves in the Gigahertz spectrum and will broadcast that radiation in a specific direction. Multiple radar systems will be located in the front grill of the cars and will project microwave radiation in front of the vehicle.

The forward-facing radar systems will focus on detecting objects at various distances. Other microwave radar systems will focus on activity behind and beside the vehicle. [3]

Self-driving cars will transmit more microwave radar radiation than DAS cars, but both have radiation risks. Both will broadcast microwaves into the environment and microwaves will be reflected back toward vehicles. Microwaves pass through glass and enter vehicles.

Thus, passengers will constantly be irradiated by microwave radiation coming at them from their own vehicle and from other vehicles on the road. [3]

Whenever two cars with microwave radar come toward each other on a two-lane road, both vehicles will directly irradiate the people in the other vehicle.

When two vehicles with radar are following one another at a modest safe distance, the people in both vehicles will experience constant microwave radiation exposure from the forward looking or backward-looking radar beams.

This means that passengers in vehicles will be frequently exposed to microwave radar radiation from all directions unless they happen to be driving on a deserted road.

Even when they might be on an empty road, they will still have constant microwave radiation exposure from the hotspot antennas on their own vehicle in addition to their own on-board microwave Wi-Fi system.

If anyone in the car is using the Wi-Fi on their smart phone, tablet, or laptop, then they will constantly be bombarded by the microwaves coming from these devices.

Of course, let us not forget the constant level of background microwave radiation that enters cars from 3G, 4G, and 5G cell towers, and the microwave radiation from smart meter relay towers and from smart meters attached to homes near the road.

Cars Trap “Microwave Smog”

Cars are metal boxes, which encapsulate microwaves. Microwave signals are reflected off surfaces and bounce around inside vehicles. They are easily absorbed by human tissue.

So, even if you aren’t holding a smart phone close to your body, you are still being saturated with microwave radiation as your technology uses Wi-Fi to communicate with the cars hotspot transmitter. [3]

Microwaves that radiate from smart phones and other devices are like second-hand tobacco smoke. It is not only the person who is smoking or using the smart phone that is affected by the smoke or the microwaves, but everyone in the nearby environment is contaminated with the carcinogenic smoke or microwave smog. [3]

Microwave Smog Affects Bicyclists and Pedestrians

The microwave radar systems used in DAS and driverless cars can project microwave radiation for more than 750 feet in front of the vehicle and a similar distance behind the vehicle. They use a combination of short-range, medium-range, and long-range microwave radar systems at very high frequencies.

Each radar system uses different Gigahertz microwave frequencies much higher than current generation cell phones and Wi-Fi.

These frequencies have not been tested to prove they are safe for humans. No safety studies have been done to determine the dangers of constant exposure to multiple microwave frequencies.

This radiation penetrates glass in other vehicles and in nearby homes. It also penetrates the bodies of people in cars and on sidewalks. [3]

Every time a radar equipped vehicle moves along a street, it will irradiate people, animals, plants, and buildings. At a busy traffic intersection, the radiation of the environment will be constant.

Microwave Smog Penetrates Homes, Storefront Businesses, and Offices

When a car equipped with microwave radars systems passes by the average home, apartment building or ground level office or storefront, the buildings and the people in and around them are subject to being irradiated. These microwaves will strike us when we are in our yards and can easily pass through window glass and enter our homes.

As the 5G system continues to be expanded into our cities, these vehicles will have greater freedom to travel in densely populated areas and will expose hundreds if not thousands of people to microwave radiation during every mile of their journey.

The combination of all this microwave technology will damage human DNA and cause many cases of cancer in addition to numerous other forms of severe illness. In my previous article, I presented the long list of illnesses and symptoms of injury that are linked to microwave exposure.

5G Technology is Coming – Linked to Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and Death

Prototypes of Self Driving Cars Still Use Human Safety Attendants – But Accidents Still Occurring

Researchers are developing computer algorithms for the on-board computers in driverless cars so that they can detect dangerous situations and make correct choices about how to avoid accidents.

While this testing is occurring, human drivers are required to sit behind the wheel and pay attention to the task of driving. They must be ready to take over if the system doesn’t perform properly.

Even with safety attendants sitting behind the wheel, several deaths and numerous accidents have now been attributed to these cars and their semi-passive drivers. [5, 6, 7]

Despite the imperfections in the current auto driving technology, we are told that when 5G gets rolled out, then things should get really safe and the prices for driverless cars will become affordable for many car buyers.

It is estimated that cars equipped with optional driverless packages could be available for purchase in 2025. [8]

New Government Mandate for Vehicle to Vehicle Wireless Communication on the Back Burner

Based on a November 2017 news report [9] it appears that the proposed federal mandate for the Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) microwave communication system is no longer being pushed forward by the Trump Administration.

This system would have required all car manufacturers to install a microwave communication system called Directed Short Range Communication (DSRC), so that vehicles could use microwaves to send warnings to other vehicles about dangerous situations. This would have been in addition to the microwave systems used by DAS and self-driving cars.

The V2V DSRC system would have produced harmful health effects that would have been equal to or even more dangerous than those produced by utility company smart meters.

The DSRC would have broadcast microwaves in a 360-degree field around light duty vehicles such as cars, trucks, motorcycles, and buses. The microwaves would have radiated in all directions for up to 500 meters – more than 1,500 feet. Each DSRC unit would have sent out bursts of microwave communication 10 times per second.

This means that everyone within 1,500 feet of these vehicles would have been bombarded by intense bursts of high frequency microwaves hundreds of times per second from all the vehicles moving around them. [10, 11, 12]

We should not assume the V2V DSRC system is dead, because it could be easily moved to the front burner again by a future administration in the name of public safety.

The serious health risk of microwave exposure from smart meters was discussed extensively in one of my previous articles.

Smart Meters: Countdown to a National Crisis of Illness and Death

Recommendations When Buying a Car

If you really want to protect your health and the health of your family, then don’t buy a car with a DAS system.

Unfortunately, DAS is becoming standard equipment on many vehicles.

You will even find the US governments proposed V2V DSRC system on certain models from Mercedes-Benz and on Cadillac CTS. [9]

• If you are buying a car that is already equipped with DAS and/or DSRC, then do everything you can to get these systems disabled.

• If the model you have selected cannot be purchased without DAS and/or DSRC, and it cannot be disabled, then choose a different model or manufacturer.

• Otherwise keep your older car that doesn’t have all the microwave technology or shop for a used vehicle that hasn’t been equipped with DAS.

Conclusion: Driverless Cars do NOT Lead to More Freedom and Healthier Lives – They Lead to More Health Risks and Loss of Privacy

Everything associated with DAS cars, driverless cars, and the proposed V2V systems is being promoted in the name of preventing accidents, saving lives, and giving us that level of true freedom that the masters of marketing want us to believe we need.

These vehicles will expose us to a tremendous amount of microwave radiation at frequencies such as 10 Gigahertz, 76-79 Gigahertz, and 140 gigahertz. Safety has not been established for these frequencies or any of the others that saturate our environment today. [3, 14]

Even though microwave radiation is known to be extremely dangerous [3, 13, 14], telecom companies and now car manufacturers are employing the technology as if it is completely harmless. They don’t have to prove safety since the FCC has given the green light to microwave technology based on long outdated research from 1996.

These new sources of microwave radiation will produce extensive harm when combined with all the other sources of background microwave radiation in the environment from Wi-Fi, cell towers, smart meters, cell phones, etc.

Will we be able to enjoy the convenience of driverless cars if we will be suffering from illnesses caused by the microwave radiation they produce?

If the cost of DAS and driverless technology includes more cancer [3, 13], heart disease, and diabetes and dozens of other illnesses [14], then will this technology really benefit us?

If these technologies cause damage to the lenses and retinas of the eyes, cause glaucoma, and can lead to blindness, then do we need it? [3, 15]

Do we need it if the price includes damage to DNA and sperm? [3]

Will we all be safer if this microwave technology leads to infertility, and the death of babies in the womb? [3]

Do we really want our driving habits, including everywhere we travel, recorded with the auto industry and their service providers?

Are DAS equipped cars and driverless cars really worth the potential destruction of our health and loss of privacy?

About the Author

John P. Thomas is a health writer for Health Impact News. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Science in Public Health (M.S.P.H.) from the School of Public Health, Department of Health Administration, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

References

[1] Verizon to launch 5G residential broadband services in up to 5 markets in 2018, Bob Varettoni. http://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-launch-5g-residential-broadband-services-5-markets-2018

[2] AT&T to Introduce 5G Wireless Service in 12 U.S. Cities in 2018, 2/21/2018. http://www.eweek.com/mobile/at-t-to-implement-first-5g-service-in-12-u.s.-cities-by-end-of-2018

[3] Wi-Cancer (home page), Retrieved 3/20/2018. http://www.wi-cancer.info/home.aspx

[4] The Best Driver-Assist Cars, Doug Newcomb and Alex Colon, PCMag.com, 1/18/2017. https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2485278,00.asp

[5] Why Ubers Self-Driving Crash Is Confusing for Humans, Aarian Marshall, WIRED, 3/31/2018. https://www.wired.com/story/uber-self-driving-crash-explanation-lidar-sensors/

[6] Tesla’s Autopilot Was Involved in Another Deadly Car Crash, Jack Stewart, WIRED, 3/30/2018. https://www.wired.com/story/tesla-autopilot-self-driving-crash-california/

[7] Mishaps: A grief history of driverless car crashes, Nilesh Christopher, The Economic Times, ET Bureau, 1/13/2017. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/security-tech/technology/driverless-crashes/articleshow/56510821.cms

[8] How 5G will drive the adoption of self-driving cars, Jonathan Camhi, Business Insider, 12/15/2017. http://www.businessinsider.com/how-5g-will-drive-the-adoption-of-self-driving-cars-2017-12

[9] US set to drop proposed vehicle-to-vehicle communications mandate, Zac Estrada, The Verge, 11/1/2017. https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/1/16592704/vehicle-to-vehicle-communications-mandate-trump

[10] Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication, NHTSA, Retrieved 4/6/2018. https://www.nhtsa.gov/technology-innovation/vehicle-vehicle-communication

[11] DSRC or 5G? #innovationandimpact, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw8xrQKoX8Q

[12] 2016 Fall Seminar #8: Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC): What, Why, and How? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqy7Fk1kOrw

[13] Antenna Sickness, Wi-Cancer.com. http://www.wi-cancer.info/antenna_sickness.aspx

[14] 5G Technology is Coming Linked to Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Alzheimers, and Death, John P. Thomas, 3/21/2018. http://healthimpactnews.com/2018/5g-technology-is-coming-linked-to-cancer-heart-disease-diabetes-alzheimers-and-death/

[15] Wi-Eyes, Wi-Cancer. http://www.wi-cancer.info/wieyes.aspx

[16] SK Telecom says 5G will be key for autonomous cars development, Juan Pedro Tomás, 3/1/2018. https://www.rcrwireless.com/20180301/5g/sk-telecom-5g-autonomous-cars-tag17