U.S. may seek power to pre-approve
self-driving car technology
Send a link to a friend
[September 20, 2016]
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama
administration said Monday it was considering seeking the power to
review and approve technology for self-driving cars before they hit the
road and said U.S. states should not set separate rules.
The U.S. Transportation Department, in its most comprehensive statement
yet on autonomous vehicles, also issued voluntary guidelines and urged
automakers to certify that their highly automated vehicles were ready
for public roads.
"If a self-driving car isn't safe, we have the authority to pull it off
the road. We won't hesitate to protect the American public's safety,"
President Barack Obama wrote in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op-ed
published Monday. "We have to get it right."
Automakers and technology companies are racing to develop vehicles that
can drive themselves at least part of the time. They have complained
that state and federal safety rules impede the process.
Obama wrote the administration is asking automakers "to sign a 15-point
safety checklist showing not just the government, but every interested
American, how they’re doing it."
The guidelines include testing, backup systems in the case of a
self-driving computer failure, and recording and sharing data. Companies
would also have to demonstrate how vehicles would comply with all
traffic laws and fare in traffic crashes and how they would perform
after a crash.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Sep/20/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
The government currently allows automakers to self-certify
that vehicles comply with safety standards.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said on a conference call
with reporters that a new premarket approval system overseen by the
government would "would require a lot more upfront discussion, dialogue
and staffing on our part."
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. The
Autopilot system, which allows drivers to keep their hands off the
wheels for extended periods, did not require any pre approval by the
agency for use by owners.
On another issue, the administration's guidance sides with Alphabet
Inc's Google unit by calling for the federal government, not states, to
set the rules governing vehicles driven by computers.
Google criticized California last year when the state proposed draft
rules requiring steering wheels and a licensed driver in all
self-driving cars.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/092016pics/news_h15.jpg)
The rear of a Lexus SUV equipped with Google self-driving sensors is
seen during a media preview of Google's prototype autonomous
vehicles in Mountain View, California September 29, 2015.
REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage
![](../images/ads/current/richardson_lda_090916.png)
A person briefed on the guidelines prior to their release on Tuesday
said they urge states not to require the presence of a licensed
driver in the driver seat when a highly automated vehicle is in
operation. The person requested anonymity because the guidelines had
not yet been made public.
"When a human being is operating that vehicle, the conventional
rules of state law would apply," Foxx told reporters on a conference
call on Monday. The goal is to "avoid a patchwork of state laws," he
added.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement on
Monday that it would not comment until it saw the guidelines, but
said it planned to release revised draft regulations in the coming
weeks.
The state of Michigan, in contrast, is moving to adopt legislation
to no longer require a licensed driver in a self-driving car while
testing on public roads.
The Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, whose members include
Google, Ford Motor Co and ride-hailing service Uber, said in a
statement they hoped policymakers could develop a framework that
avoids a "patchwork of requirements that could inhibit self-driving
vehicle development."
Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile
Manufacturers, a trade group representing major automakers, said in
a statement that the government's goal should be to "avoid policies
that become outdated and inadvertently limit progress in reducing
the number of crashes and saving lives."
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Richard Chang and David
Gregorio)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Sep/20/images/ads/current/pestcontrol_bch_termites.png) |