“Less congested, less polluted roads”. The government is also taking additional steps, such as the Implementation and Continuous Improvement of Policy and Smart Cities Commitments to further encourage the self-driving auto industry.
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The administration guidelines also call for sharing among manufacturers and regulators of data about problems encountered by self-driving vehicles. Traditionally, the federal government has regulated vehicles, and states have handled drivers.
“We believe that fully autonomous technology will most likely be deployed incrementally, starting with locations that have distinct geographic, weather, roadway type, and other features, and progress to general deployment”, Google argued in comments to the federal government. It will also continue to investigate safety defect and enforce recalls.
Asked to predict how soon self-driving vehicles will represent, say, 25 percent of the cars on the road, Foxx says, “I don’t know about percentages, but it’s very clear that there is a growing interest in the marketplace to bring these vehicles into the lives of Americans”. The administration’s guidance will promote safety, he wrote.
President Obama took just a few short minutes during his final State of the Union address earlier this year to push for what he heralded as a “21st Century Transportation System” that was mostly concerned with transitioning from fossil fuels to alternative energies, with no mention of the burgeoning self-driving vehicle movement. “We won’t hesitate to protect the American public’s safety”.
Portions of the proposed guidelines will be effective immediately. The Michigan legislature, for example, is considering bills that would allow the testing of self-driving cars without brakes or pedals on state roads. In this letter, they will have to explain how the self-driving vehicle and the technology employed address matters such as system safety and cybersecurity. Most importantly, the new regulations are created to be flexible and evolve over time as the technology continues to chance and improve.
The new policy has so far been met with enthusiasm by a burgeoning industry that until now has largely been left flailing in a regulatory void to navigate a hodgepodge of local laws and rules.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating Tesla Motors Inc’s Autopilot system since June because of a May 7 fatal crash in Florida in which the system was in use. “Your commute becomes productive and restful rather than exhausting”.
About 35,000 people were killed in traffic accidents in the U.S.in 2015, and according to government data, almost a third of those involved drunk drivers. Automated vehicles could change their lives. That proposal hasn’t gone anywhere in Congress, which would have to approve the funds.
Federal officials anxious the premature regulation of that technology might inhibit its development. The goal is to “avoid a patchwork of state laws”, he added. Many automotive and technology companies are testing self-driving vehicles, and ride-hailing company Uber even lets customers in Pittsburgh order rides in prototypes (see “My Self-Driving Uber Needed Human Help”).
“Consumers need more than just guidelines”.
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In this July 15, 2016, photo, a double decker tour bus drives by an Audi self driving vehicle parked on Pennsylvania Avenue, near the Capitol in Washington.
