In a joint appearance, Anthony Foxx, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation and Jeffrey Zients, director of the National Economic Council, released guidelines that encourage technology innovations from companies balanced with concerns over public safety. And Obama, with just months left in his tenure as president, seems to be doubling down to make this part of his legacy.
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“Regulation can go too far”, President Barack Obama wrote in an op-ed Monday on the regulations.
“Right now, too many people die on our roads – 35,200 past year alone – with 94 percent of those the result of human error or choice”.
Vehicle performance guidance: This includes a 15 point safety assessment automakers are requested to sign which certifies the vehicles are ready for public roads. “That’s the general principle here”.
Obama also tipped the first White House Frontiers Conference on October 13 in Pittsburgh, which will “explore the future of innovation in America and around the world, focusing on building our capacity in science, technology and innovation, as well as the new technologies, challenges and goals that will shape the next century”.
They also say they want to avoid a “patchwork” of regulations that differ from state to state. “When a human being is operating that vehicle, the conventional rules of state law would apply”.
“There’s an opportunity through the coordination that has already taken place for, not just California, but for all states to coordinate to try and get that uniform consistent framework for the country”, he said.
The US government is introducing a policy for self-driving cars created to get safe driverless cars onto American roads sooner rather than later.
A driver died in a Tesla vehicle earlier this year when its automated highway driving system Autopilot did not detect a semi-trailer across the road ahead. Self-driving vehicles rely on complex software, which is often opaque. They will evolve as the technology does, according to the DOT. “A manufacturer should be able to focus on developing a single HAV [highly automated vehicle] fleet rather than 50 different versions to meet individual state requirements”, the DOT’s guidelines state.
Current regulatory tools available from NHTSA, including which exemptions allow for testing of “nontraditional vehicle designs” more quickly.
There’s good news ahead for the makers of autonomous cars.
New tools and authorities.
The federal government is striking the right balance between safety and regulation, said Karl Brauer, a senior editor at Kelley Blue Book.
He said the government’s involvement would help to ensure the novel technologies were safe to deploy.
Still, if more people start to notice that the person driving next to them has a weird-looking vehicle and doesn’t have their hands on the steering wheel, these guidelines could explain why. The full guidelines can be read on the DOT’s website.
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The policy announcement was welcomed by the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets – a lobby group that counts Google, Ford, Lyft, Uber and Volvo among its members. “Less congested, less polluted roads”. By complying with the assessment, carmakers and developers can “bring lifesaving technologies to the roads safely while providing innovators the space they need to develop new solutions”.
