That includes existing and future systems that “fail to adequately account for the possibility that a distracted or inattentive driver-occupant might fail to retake control of the vehicle in a safety-critical situation”.
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“If a self-driving auto isn’t safe, we have the authority to pull it off the road”, the president wrote in an editorial for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette outlining the policy.
“Automated vehicles have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives each year”, wrote Obama in an op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday. “But we have to get it right”, he adds.
First, the feds have guidance for manufacturers, suppliers, and any other company or developer that’s making self-driving cars drive themselves. They have complained that state and federal safety rules impede the process.
And we’re asking them to sign a 15-point safety checklist showing not just the government, but every interested American, how they’re doing it. The full policy on self-driving vehicles, released Tuesday, presents guidelines for manufacturers including data recording, crashworthiness and cybersecurity. If the government had followed its process for issuing rules, it would have provided the public greater opportunity to weigh in on proposed regulations and required NHTSA to address any concerns that are raised before regulations become final, they say. Federal responsibilities, for example, include setting safety standards for new vehicles and managing safety recalls.
“We want to be as nimble and flexible as we can be, recognizing that we will never, ever compromise on what we think is safe”, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said at a Tuesday news conference. Tesla’s Model S features Autopilot – a system that came under fire this year after a man using the feature was killed in Florida when his Tesla could not distinguish between the bright white side of a turning tractor-trailer and the sunny sky behind it.
US regulator agency has published these guidelines on the Department of Transportation’s website.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has released its federal policy for automated vehicles. The person requested anonymity because the guidelines had not yet been made public.
Automakers sought the NHTSA guidance in part because they fear a patchwork of state laws will slow or complicate deployment of self-driving cars. The Government has already issued their own guidelines on autonomous cars, including demands for thorough testing before being allowed on a public road.
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In 2015 more than 35,000 Americans died in auto crashes, the president noted, citing a figure that’s been widely quoted in recent months – 94 percent of fatal crashes are caused by driver error, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Foxx said that his agency will consider creating new federal standards for designs that remove the steering wheel and pedals from cars, according to USA Today.
