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US Regulators Issue Comprehensive Policy On Self-Driving Cars (vox.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Vox: On Monday, [The U.S. Department of Transportation] released a surprisingly far-reaching "Federal Automated Vehicles Policy." The policy attempts to do all sorts of things -- we'll get into the details below -- but the overarching motivation is that DOT wants to accelerate the development and adoption of AVs. DOT views AVs as a safety technology that could reduce some of the 38,000 traffic fatalities a year in the U.S., 95 percent of which are caused by human error. It also sees AVs as an accessibility technology that could provide personal transportation to whole populations (disabled, elderly, etc.) who have lacked it. The policy comes in four buckets: What the vehicles need to do to be safe; What federal and state governments need to do; How DOT will use its existing regulatory tools; DOT may need brand new regulatory tools to deal with AVs. The "vehicle performance" section lays out a 15-point safety assessment, so that AV developers and manufacturers know the sorts of things that federal regulators will expect. It covers everything from cybersecurity to data collection to crash response. And then there are "ethical considerations." AVs will have to make life-or-death decisions. The second section addresses the division of responsibilities and authorities between the federal government and state governments, and suggests a model policy that states can adapt for their own use. The feds will retain their authority to set and enforce safety standards, communicate with the public about safety, and occasionally issue guidances about how to meet national standards. States will retain their authority to license human drivers and register cars, set and enforce traffic laws, and regulate vehicle insurance and liability. There are three broad ways that DOT communicates about standards with automakers: letters of interpretation, exemptions and rule-makings. It is promising to speed up all of them in regard to HAVs. DOT is considering a range of new authorities that may be necessary to properly regulate HAVs. The report adds that "DOT has officially abandoned the NHTSA's own levels-of-automation classification in favor of SAE's, which is preferred by the industry. Vox has neat graphic you can view here. President Obama also wrote a piece about self-driving cars in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "In the seven-and-a-half years of my presidency, self-driving cars have gone from sci-fi fantasy to an emerging reality with the potential to transform the way we live..."
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...to save me and my family from all the "excellent drivers" who are busy on their phones while speeding down the freeway. Some of them, no doubt, posting diatribes about Big Government taking away their right to maintain complete and perfect control over their vehicle's performance.
This is one of the things needed to get this technology legal and on the road. And better, one of the government agencies in charge of seeing this happen has outlined a plan to get it to happen. Not just in terms of what the manufactures need to get done on their end to be legal but also an outline of the regulatory apparatus required to ensure the safety of everyone!
I call this a win on just about every level.
I'm anticipating that all these automated car makers will start to complain about steep regulations, such as having to avoid children and animals running into the road and having to keep to a common reasonable driving speed.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
It's insane even considering implementing beta technology when people's actual lives are at stake. I weep for my country and its rampant greed.
How many jobs will automated cars eliminate? Cabs and couriers are my first thought, large trucks provide millions of entry level jobs. I know automation will come one day, but are we just making more poor people.
Being a spelling & grammar Nazi is a sign you do not poses the intelligence to contribute to the conversation
No. It is through proper private ownership of our property and our individual rights that we retain control over our technology. The state is the entity imposing draconian patent/copyright law as well as backing monopolies that prevents this (eg right to hack). In fact, the state is the biggest monopoly of all. They can and do legislate entire companies out of business whenever they encroach on its turf (eg what they're trying to do to uber and lyft). The state is also responsible for the emerging draconian surveillance society, with the relevant legislation often used as justification to further lock down technology.
Who do you think will demand remote access to all of these vehicles? Do you think it will allow owners to remove whatever spy/malware vendors embed? Hell no. The liability nightmare makes private ownership of these cars nearly unaffordable. This gives both the vendors and the state unfettered access and control over freedom of movement. It's a mutually beneficial relationship at our expense.
The wealthy cannot rule without a big and powerful state, as well as legions of twits like you who will happily vote to force your fellow citizens to fund their own oppression.
One area not mentioned, at least in Vox's summary of the new regulations, is smart road technologies. Here, sensors in and around roads would share information with automated vehicles, and possibly mediate information exchanges between vehicles. Once many of the vehicles on a road are talking to the road and each other, it becomes straightforward to: i) Route traffic around obstructions, efficiently merging cars into open lanes well before the point of obstruction. ii) Clear a path for emergency vehicles. iii) Spread traffic efficiently over available routes to clear or avoid congestion. iv) Organize "convoys" of vehicles going in similar directions to take advantage of drafting and traffic light priority. iv) Operate a marketplace in which vehicles can bid for access to express lanes or right-of-way. (Late for a crucial meeting? Pay other cars $5 each to pull out of the way.)
// DevsVult: The Machines Will It
Self driving cars will spell an end to any shred of privacy.
Today if you do not carry a cellular phone most cars do not "phone home" with data about your travels. Self driving cars will exist to collect as much data about you as possible and report back to Google or whomever.
I will not buy one unless there is NO data broadcast off-vehicle.
Deal breaker. A fully autonomous vehicle fleet will need constant communications with other autonomous vehicles. Just moving around in city interstate traffic, getting info from other vehicles will be a must. Imagine being in the far left lane when the Significant other calls to tell you that you need to pick up one of the children who got sick at school, and the exit is a mile away and you're in traffic. You'll need a way to change the programming quickly, and the car will have to negotiate with the other cars to allow you to move over quickly.
Where we are right now, is the level of home heating/AC thermostat controls that are great if you never ever ever change your routines.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Clearly you either forgot to include the check, or it was too small. I suggest you try again, but fix whichever of those errors you made.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.