Can you think of any technological advances that will affect your life more than driverless cars?  One surprising way in which this level of transportation automation will impact the economy is through financial savings.

Approximately 8 percent of the workforce has a commute to work every day that is an hour or longer, according to a Texas A&M study. Furthermore, the average American spends 38 hours a year stuck in traffic. Driverless cars would offer a boost in productivity from both a professional and personal standpoint. Oh, and the driverless car a lot closer than you think.

Ford executive chairman Bill Ford Jr. said that driverless technology is essential to cope “with the expected global proliferation of vehicles from today’s one billion to four billion by 2050,” writes DesignTrend. He also said that we should be able to expect that all cars would be autonomous by 2025.

If the productivity boost isn’t enough of an incentive, maybe the monetary benefits will get your attention.  According to the aforementioned Texas A&M study, there’s potential for some $121 billion in annual savings from traffic patterns alone. I repeat, $121 billion annually saved.

So what other ways in which autonomous cars can generate cash savings?

3 potential windfalls from driverless cars

• Traffic deaths avoided

There are over 34,000 traffic deaths a year in the U.S. and over one million in the world. In the U.S., traffic accidents send more than two million adults to the E.R. each year.

• Security services

Eighty-one percent of American drivers polled by the Auto Alliance said they would be afraid of a hacker taking over control of an autonomous car. Car production, monitoring, security — there is significant opportunity for job creation.

• Product & business opportunities

Innovation and advancement are what spark revolutions. As Larry Page said at this year’s Google I/O, “Create things that don’t exist. Not every new technology is a zero sum game. We’re really only at one percent of what we can do… we’re really moving slow.”