And right now, for too many senior citizens and Americans with disabilities, driving isn’t an option.
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Rep. Bill Shuster (R. -Pa.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, offered qualified support for the new policy. Mapping routes is a critical component to getting self-driving cars on the road, as the cars compare a map of what they should see to what they actually sense with sensors in order to detect obstacles.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, or DOT, on Tuesday issued a guidance framework clarifying that as cars take over more driving responsibilities, state’s will cede regulatory control over motor vehicle operations to the federal government, which oversees the equipment.
“Traditional regulations are going to take too long”, said Bryant Walker Smith, an expert on self-driving cars at the University of SC.
The Obama administration clearly defined its role in regulating autonomous vehicles Tuesday with a new federal policy outlining the relationship between state and federal laws for driverless cars.
State Police Trooper Robert Lima told the News Service there is not yet any State Police policy on how to handle automated cars.
In fact, the idea would nearly become more acceptable and easier to swallow if all vehicles were automated.
“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”, Obama wrote.
The statements were the most aggressive signal yet by federal regulators that they see automated technology as a win for auto safety.
Companies will have to prove that self-driving cars are tested and validated to operate under the conditions that the companies claim.
“Right now, too many people die on our roads – 35,200 a year ago alone – with 94 per cent of those the result of human error or choice”, Mr Obama wrote. A new administration could modify, rework or scrap the guidelines.
MA has not passed a law specifically authorizing automated driving or regulating the practice. This will ensure that the road regulations that states now control will not be any different with autonomous vehicles. And make no mistake: If a self-driving auto isn’t safe, we have the authority to pull it off the road.
When it comes to cyber, the guidelines say that “the manufacturer or other entity should address the cross-cutting items as a vehicle or equipment is designed and developed to ensure that the vehicle has data recording and sharing capabilities; [and] that it has applied appropriate functional safety and cybersecurity best practices”. This means that they specify exactly when the auto can perform its autonomous functions and when it may have to turn over control to a human driver.
“Fully automated vehicles are driven entirely by the vehicle itself and require no licensed human driver”, the policy says. DOT intends to revise and refine the Policy periodically to reflect such experience, innovation, and public input. States, he said, should stick to registering the cars and dealing with questions of liability when they crash.
It’s the strongest indication yet that the federal government is embracing autonomous vehicle technology and the benefits that come with it – including safer roads, less congestion, and eliminating driver error.
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Gov. Charlie Baker’s chief of transportation said the state should prepare for the new technology. “So I don’t think that the issue for us is whether they’re coming or not”, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said on Boston Herald Radio last Wednesday.
