Slashdot Mirror
Feds Shut Down Self-Driving School Bus Pilot In Florida
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday ordered the French transportation company Transdev to stop transporting schoolchildren in a self-driving vehicle in Florida. Ars Technica reports: Transdev's pilot project in Babcock Ranch, a planned community, was quite modest. On Fridays, Transdev's electric shuttle would take a group of elementary-aged children to school, then take them home later in the day. The vehicle had a safety driver on board. The route was short enough that kids walked or rode their bikes to school the other four days of the week, according to a spokeswoman for Babcock Ranch. "The shuttle travels at a top speed of 8mph, with the potential to reach speeds of 30mph once the necessary infrastructure is complete," an August press release stated.
So why did the feds shut down this project while allowing lots of others to continue with minimal oversight? NHTSA points to two factors. One is that Transdev is a French company. Different countries have different safety standards, so vehicles designed overseas often can't be used in the U.S. without special permission from U.S. regulators. NHTSA granted Transdev a temporary importation authorization to test its driverless shuttle in the United States. "Transdev requested permission to use the shuttle for a specific demonstration project, not as a school bus," NHTSA said in its Friday statement. "Transdev failed to disclose or receive approval for this use." The other issue, of course, is that the project involves kids. For obvious reasons, federal regulators are going to be extra wary of testing experimental technology on schoolchildren.
So why did the feds shut down this project while allowing lots of others to continue with minimal oversight? NHTSA points to two factors. One is that Transdev is a French company. Different countries have different safety standards, so vehicles designed overseas often can't be used in the U.S. without special permission from U.S. regulators. NHTSA granted Transdev a temporary importation authorization to test its driverless shuttle in the United States. "Transdev requested permission to use the shuttle for a specific demonstration project, not as a school bus," NHTSA said in its Friday statement. "Transdev failed to disclose or receive approval for this use." The other issue, of course, is that the project involves kids. For obvious reasons, federal regulators are going to be extra wary of testing experimental technology on schoolchildren.
If you'd bother to read the summary, this experiment was being run by a foreign company, making it an international affair; states do not have jurisdiction over international commerce. The foreign company apparently didn't adhere to the rules for the special driver's permit granted by the Federal Government to let their foreign software drive on US roads, so they got shut down.
"So why did the feds shut down this project while allowing lots of others to continue...?" Why are the feds even involved? This isn't a issue regarding interstate commerce, which is the most disingenuous excuse they have.
Interstate commerce has generally been considered by the courts to include international commerce, and this is a French company doing business in Florida. If this were a Florida based company, I would agree, the feds would have no jurisdiction.
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
European cars in the US are built to US rules, and are somewhat different than their local-market models.
Indeed. Some of the differences can include: ... and commonly softer suspension and wider seats.
- No differentiated fuel tank holes to only fit nozzles giving the right fuel.
- No key lock on the fuel cap.
- Rear fog lights are usually disconnected, because Americans have no restraint and think they should be used when visibility is more than 10m/30ft.
- No splash guards.
- No knock-off safety mirrors, hood ornaments or antennas.
- No way to manually disable airbags (like for transporting elderly or backward facing child seats)
- No orange rear blinkers.
- No warning triangle or safety vests.
- Yellow headlights (which penetrate fog better) are not allowed.
- For older cars, no longwave radio.
- For newer cars, no DAB+ radio.
- For FM, only bands 9 kHz apart are available, not switchable to 10 kHz.
- No Galileo satellites on the nav system, only GPS and GLONASS. Galileo has too good resolution to have been approved.
- For cars with hotspot functionality, no WiFi channels 12-14 on the 2.4 GHz band.
- Voice assistants are female sounding, not male.