Slashdot Mirror
Michigan Lets Autonomous Cars On Roads Without Human Driver (go.com)
Companies can now test self-driving cars on Michigan public roads without a driver or steering wheel under new laws that could push the state to the forefront of autonomous vehicle development. From a report on ABC: The package of bills signed into law Friday comes with few specific state regulations and leaves many decisions up to automakers and companies like Google and Uber. It also allows automakers and tech companies to run autonomous taxi services and permits test parades of self-driving tractor-trailers as long as humans are in each truck. And they allow the sale of self-driving vehicles to the public once they are tested and certified, according to the state. The bills allow testing without burdensome regulations so the industry can move forward with potential life-saving technology, said Gov. Rick Snyder, who was to sign the bills. "It makes Michigan a place where particularly for the auto industry it's a good place to do work," he said.
With the rising number of idiots texting on their phones while behind the wheel, I have already seen hundreds of driverless cars on the road.
>> Gov. Rick Snyder: "It makes Michigan a place where particularly for the auto industry it's a good place to do work," he said.
Well duh - Michigan's economy IS the auto industry. Just happy there's a governor in place to clear the red tape for this.
>> allows automakers and tech companies to...permits test parades of self-driving tractor-trailers
Remember when the Teamsters were a force in elections? No? Guess I'm old...
Will they properly recognize the "prison area: do not pick up hitchhikers" road signs?
the autonomous vehicle kills a pedestrian? Better figure that out now.
And who do I sue if it's my mother that was killed - the manufacturer? The software developer? The entire QA team?
AVs have a *lot* of unanswered questions.
"It makes Michigan a place where particularly for the auto industry it's a good place to do work,"
Yeah except for the shitty roads, expensive labor, unsupportive government, hostile unions, etc. Other than that it's awesome. I find it hilarious that the state most closely associated with the auto industry has some of the worst roads in the country. Good place to test handling and suspensions I guess. Anyway this doesn't really matter much unless they can keep the companies that own the technology doing it in Michigan. Who cares if Google develops self driving tech in Michigan if Michigan doesn't see any of the financial benefit from that.
The thing that Michigan (particularly SE Michigan) has going for it is that the auto industry has a lot of residual talent left in the area. There is a ton of engineering and production capability. Michigan can be a great place to work on some really interesting technology. Seriously, it's hugely underrated as a tech hub but Michigan is one of the best places to be for high tech jobs. Too bad the state has dropped the ball in so many other areas. It's a beautiful place to live and work (outside of Detroit City proper anyway) and it's kind of a shame what has happened to the state in the last several decades.
This is actually good news for everyone, not just people in Michigan. If self-driving vehicles can deal with the weather conditions there, they should be able to deal with them in the rest of the country, and most other countries as well. Sunny days in California don't expose the hazards posed by rain, snow, slush, and black ice.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
We're in Trumpworld, why let a thing like human safety stand in the way of profits from a luxurymobile? Have they at least ensured that they will travel the speed limit or be in a special lane?
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Will be interesting to see what happens when someone is killed by one of the autonomous vehicles.
Isn't hitchhiking illegal in most states?
No, actually hitchhiking is perfectly legal in most places. A few states ban it but in most places it's just illegal to actually stand on the road when soliciting a ride. Stand to the side of the road and you are not breaking any laws. And even in places where it is illegal the police mostly don't care all that much.
With Michigan's exemplary track record implementing minimal regulations, what could possibly go wrong?
Seriously though, I'm glad their beta(alpha?)-testing this for the rest of us. I think we all agree self-driving cars have great potential once we get it right, but someone has to go first to get there. Way to take one for the team, Michigan!
And MI is a great state for automated driving systems to test again bad weather road conditions and construction re-routing....
Which is fine but does little for the economy of Michigan by itself. Employs a few engineers and support personnel but what else is the benefit to Michigan? Hope a few businesses take root as a result but I'm not holding my breath.
a criminal case will be needed to set things right say a really bad accident. Even better if you get a judge like the one in My Cousin Vinny.
should be amusing to see in action.
I just don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, "Yay, government getting out of the way of innovation!" On the other hand, "Snyder is a Republican so this is obviously a gift to Big Auto in the name of trickle-down economics. Or something."
anyway. Oh, and if you work in a retail store or drive a cab/Uber (retail will get killed by Amazon as soon as self driving is a reality)
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
With this new law expect the accident rate to go up, as people trying to post a picture or video of the driverless car on facebook, twitter, youtube, etc. lose control and drive into trees, other cars, buildings, off bridges, etc.
"Grab them by the pussy" -- President of the United States of America
Step 1: Step in front of car.
Step 2: Box the car in and then hook up to tow truck
Step 3: Profit!
Detroit Is lawless. They could have let loose all the autonomous cars there and no one would care.
Although they would probably end up sitting on bricks.
Too many positives.
Blowjobs/Sex
Drinking Alchohol
Texting/Talking on the phone
Sleeping
Checking Email / Working
Cars do....
Really bad title.
permits test parades of self-driving tractor-trailers as long as humans are in each truck.
Hopefully, the human will be required to be at the wheel, ready to take over immediately if there's a system glitch.
In the recent self-driving truck demonstration in Colorado, the system developer (Otto) bragged that "Our professional driver was out of the driver's seat for the entire 120-mile journey down I-25, monitoring the self-driving system from the sleeper berth in the back." http://www.latimes.com/busines...
Does anyone else feel that was quite unwise and cocky? It take a while to get from the sleeper berth to the steering wheel.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
I'll head right over there now and buy a Tesla!
right... tesla ;-) which are banned from selling cars in that state just because of crony capitalism on the part of the politicians
And this is all in pursuit of something nobody needs—third-party remote driving or proprietary software driving. As Bradley Kuhn has pointed out, software freedom doesn't kill people, your security through obscurity kills people. I'm no fan of the driverless vehicle but it's worth noting how one-sided it is; the party being left out of knowing how their vehicle will behave is the vehicle's owner. This is a recipe for bad outcomes and we already have evidence of one driverless vehicle killing someone and the VW proprietary exhaust scandal adding more pollutants killing people more slowly.
Eric "The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process" Holder has returned to working for Covington & Burling, whose clients include many of the banks Holder chose not to prosecute when he was Attorney General (despite considerable evidence) and as the Intercept points out, President-elect Trump has made America Goldman's again so if you voted for Trump thinking you were dodging the Goldman Sachs favoritism Hillary Clinton showed, that didn't work.
Digital Citizen
allowing them to vote and carry concealed weapons.
Well, less people driving means fewer jobs... again.
No it means fewer people in jobs that involve driving. Nothing more. It does not follow that eliminating drivers will mean fewer jobs overall. It just means those jobs won't be driving vehicles around which frankly is something of a waste human capital. Jobs get obsoleted all the time by new technology but that doesn't mean there are fewer jobs in total. Those people now can be employed doing something else and they will be. Your argument is like complaining that we have fewer jobs washing clothes now that we have automatic washing machines in the home. That labor buden went away but it didn't result in fewer jobs. It freed up people to do more productive and economically beneficial work.
MI can't really afford to rest all it's eggs in the Automotive basket...
Michigan doesn't really have much of a choice for the near future. Michigan is and remains the epicenter of the auto industry even to this day. That comes with some benefits and some drawbacks. Michigan's economy does not depend solely on the auto industry but it's definitely the most important industry in the state.