US Guidelines on Driverless Cars Offer Some Direction on Future Policy

President Obama wrote, “We’re also giving guidance to states on how to wisely regulate these new technologies, so that when a self-driving auto crosses from OH into Pennsylvania, its passengers can be confident that other vehicles will be just as responsibly deployed and just as safe”.

The NHTSA also urged states not to require a licensed driver for the most highly automated vehicles.

Although most of the policy is effective immediately, the Department of Transportation will be gathering public feedback through a 60-day comment period, public workshops, and through expert reviews. This shouldn’t be a major problem since companies have been pushing for federal regulations for autonomous vehicles in order to expedite getting them on the roads outside of a test environment.

Automated vehicle technologies, including those that can steer, brake, and control a car’s speed, are developing at a rapid pace.

President Barack Obama gave an enthusiastic endorsement to self-driving vehicles that, when safe, could prove “transformative”, in an opinion piece published Sept 19.

Wallace acknowledges the government might need to establish new legal authority to regulate self-driving cars. Yet having officially endorsed the fast-evolving technology, regulators must now balance the commercial interests of companies including Tesla, Google and Uber with concerns over public safety, especially in light of recent crashes involving semi-autonomous cars. “That’s what harnessing technology for good can look like”. The federal government should be in charge of regulating self-driving cars rather than states since the vehicles are essentially controlled by software, not people, Obama administration officials said September 19 as they laid out the broad outlines of their plans to help get the transformational technology safely onto the nation’s roadways.

The new guidelines have been endorsed by several automakers.

Current NHTSA Regulations/Options for Expediting Introduction: “Outlines options for the further use of current federal authorities to expedite the safe introduction of highly automated vehicles into the marketplace”. “That’s the spirit that has propelled us forward since before the automobile was invented”. The DMV is planning to release revised rules “in the coming weeks”, according to an official statement, which also mentioned that the agency is soliciting comments at a public workshop October 20 in Sacramento. At some point, the agency said, it might impose mandatory safety rules that would be enforceable.

The proposed guidelines set a 15-point safety assessment, which requires autonomous vehicle manufacturers to submit a notice to the DOT stating their autonomous vehicles meet certain specifications regarding crashworthiness, individual privacy, cybersecurity, safety systems, privacy, data recording, ethics and more.

The DOT made it clear that it can still recall semiautonomous and fully automated vehicles if they’re ruled to be unsafe.

The administration guidelines also call for sharing among manufacturers and regulators of data about problems encountered by self-driving vehicles.

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”.