What Will It Take To Make Automated Vehicles Legal In the US?

ashshy writes Tesla, Google, and many other companies are working on self-driving cars. When these autopilot systems become perfected and ubiquitous, the roads should be safer by orders of magnitude. So why doesn't Tesla CEO Elon Musk expect to reach that milestone until 2013 or so? Because the legal framework that supports American road rules is incredibly complex, and actually handled on a state-by-state basis. The Motley Fool explains which authorities Musk and his allies will have to convince before autopilot cars can hit the mainstream, and why the process will take another decade.

Comments

What will it take?

[TechyImmigrant]

Automated vehicles that work?

A lot of bribes

[nine-times]

Q: What Will It Take To Make Automated Vehicles Legal In the US?

A: A lot of bribes for people at various levels of government.

Wait, did I say "bribes"? Sorry, I meant "lobbying and campaign contributions". I have a hard time telling those things apart.

A working automated vehicle

[Hrrrg]

Call me when they can make an automated car that car drive in snowy conditions when no lane landmarks are visible. Or one that can turn into a lane of busy traffic that currently requires you to make eye contact with another driver to get them to slow down and let you in. Then we can worry about legalizing it. Legalization is trivial compared to the technical challenges. Personally, I suspect that there won't be a truly automated cars in my lifetime.

Re:A working automated vehicle

[jopsen]

Call me when they can make an automated car that car drive in snowy conditions when no lane landmarks are visible.

Should you drive in a snow storm? Either way, with GPS, etc this is not impossible, though I suspect the car would refuse to drive automatically under these circumstances... But keep in mind not all cars on the roads today can be driven under snowy conditions, try driving without a roof :) he he..

Or one that can turn into a lane of busy traffic that currently requires you to make eye contact with another driver to get them to slow down and let you in-

Is this even technically legal to do that? If you're behind a stop or yield sign, you cannot proceed forward if your interfere with ongoing traffic in any way. In practice it can be a bit different as someone should be nice and help you in; in which case an automatic car could move in too... Acting on eye contact or perceived signals like hand weaving does not hold in court and in case of an accident you would be fully liable.

Legalization is trivial compared to the technical challenges. Personally, I suspect that there won't be a truly automated cars in my lifetime.

How old are you ? :) Just kidding...

Re:A working automated vehicle

[Anonymous Coward]

A theoretical solution that requires universal adoption (wireless networking in every vehicle on the road) does not count as "solved".

*nothing*

[globaljustin]

We will never have truly *autonomous* vehicles driving on the same lanes in the same traffic as regular diver vehicles.

The problem is *not* technical in nature ultimately (now, the tech is not near sufficient, but assuming it could improve), the problem is *liability* for when something goes wrong.

What will happen: Dedicated lanes on interstates

Like HOV lanes, basically.

The only way it will actually be implemented is in controlled zones where there are much fewer variables...

To think anything else is magical thinking and not connected to reality

Re:Expect a push from the Insurance Industry

[gurps_npc]

Insurance companies will push heavily IN FAVOR of auto-autos.

This assumes that robots are safer drivers than humans (which is an obvious requirement before they legalize it).

The reasons are clear:

1) Car insurances don't want to pay you because someone else hit your car, but they can't prove it. Robot cars decrease this risk.

There is a LOT of money spent by the insurance companies trying to prove fault. It is big business. By reducing the actual risk from other drivers, insurance companies will save billions, even if they never insure a robot car.

Also, insurance companies make money when things become safer - because rate changes are always behind actual risk changes. So more safety always equals insurance profits and less safety always equals insurance losses.

I agree that speed traps and red light cameras will vanish, but I am not so sure about toll roads. In fact, they might grow in power, using the robots to connect tolls. They might simply have a tax charge to drive fast in the state. As in, your robot car will be limited to 50 mph unless you purchase the NJ Fast Lane upgrade from New Jersey Transit.