20, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued its regulatory guidelines for self-driving cars, in an attempt to help automakers prepare for the transition to driverless vehicles. The DOT addressed a controversial issue, where several states had already enacted self-driving vehicle testing regulations years ahead of the federal government.
Advertisement
Automakers should also be allowed to self-certify the safety of autonomous vehicles by following a 15-point checklist for safe design, development, testing and deployment, said officials who briefed reporters.
Automakers sought the NHTSA guidance in part because they fear a patchwork of state laws will slow or complicate deployment of self-driving cars.
One self-driving technology expert said the overall tenor of the guidance signaled that the federal government truly has embraced autonomous driving.
The recommendations outline how testing should be done on driverless cars, what safeguards should be in place in case systems crash, how vehicles comply with current traffic rules, and what protections are in place to stop hacking. “Through a series of next steps and in response to public comments, DOT intends to update the policy annually”.
The federal government is striking the right balance between safety and regulation, said Karl Brauer, a senior editor at Kelley Blue Book. The assessment process is meant to set clear expectations for manufacturers developing and deploying automated vehicle technologies.
The primary focus of the policy is on highly automated vehicles, or those in which the vehicle can take full control of the driving task in at least some circumstances. The agency “must not shy away from assuring public safety with minimum federal vehicle safety standards”. In 2007, I first saw Carnegie Mellon University’s prize-winning autonomous vehicle, and three years ago I had a test drive of the University’s next iteration of the auto.
On a call with press yesterday, Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx nodded to the new federal policy on private drones.
Earlier this year, the administration even launched a $40 million Smart Cities Competition to “challenge mayors across the country to develop strategies for deploying self-driving cars, autonomous vehicles, and smart sensors to prototype the future of transportation in their cities”.
In April, Google formed a lobby with Ford and Uber dubbed the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets calling for a set of driverless auto rules by the federal government, rather than a state-by-state approach.
The NHTSA believes autonomous software falls under “motor vehicle equipment” and therefore it has the power to recall any autonomous driving systems that create “unreasonable risks” to safety.
Advertisement
The goal of the Federal Automated Vehicle Policy is to support the advance of highly automated vehicles while protecting public safety.
