By Carlos F. Ugalde
Twenty years ago, the idea of an unmanned vehicle operating in our roads was simply preposterous. Besides the apparent impossibility of developing such technology, the largest concern was- and continues to be- the safety of pedestrians and passengers. How can we allow a machine to make its own choices in unpredictable road settings! Despite this apprehension, experts predict that about 54 million autonomous vehicles, more commonly known as “driverless cars,” will be operating by 2035, and “nearly all of the vehicles in use are likely to be self-driving cars . . . sometime after 2050.”
Through the use of object and space-based navigation systems, as well as remote sensing technologies, the autonomous vehicle is capable of the same functions as the traditional car without any need for human input. Remote sensing is especially crucial to the success of the driverless car considering the natural unpredictability of road conditions. By employing vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) applications, these technologies allow self-driving cars to communicate with other vehicles and roadside structures and objects.
The numerous benefits this technology offers has largely eclipsed any opposition. Self-driving cars virtually eliminate traffic-related casualties due to faster reaction times of computers compared with humans, as well as increased reliability. Human error, which according to an Indiana University study accounts for more than 90 percent of car collisions, would be entirely removed from the equation. In addition to safety-related benefits, autonomous cars would improve efficiency in a number of ways. By allowing for the reduction of car-to-car gaps and the increase of default speed limits, such automation would improve traffic flow and increase road capacity. Also, because driverless cars could operate continuously and therefore facilitate shared ownership, the need for parking space would largely decline. The likely result would be the efficient use of such space for commercial and residential purposes, leading to higher land values. These are only a few of the widespread benefits, but, as a whole, a study projects total savings of $447 billion to the United States alone.
On the other hand, opponents cite liability as the biggest obstacle due to the likelihood of software and equipment malfunctioning, the difficult interaction with human-driven vehicles, and cyber security issues, among others. Naturally, this concern raises two important legal questions concerning the viability of the autonomous vehicle. First, can the current legal framework effectively regulate this automated technology? And second, in the case of an accident, who should be liable?
John Villasenor, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, concludes that the existing body of products liability law is more than capable of adapting to novel questions and that legislation or regulation should not be a precondition to the vehicle’s commercial availability. In fact, state legislation generally does not expressly prohibit such automated vehicles because legislatures, naturally, did not foresee the possibility.
Nonetheless, several states, including California, Nevada, Michigan, and Florida, have passed legislation authorizing the operation of autonomous vehicles under certain conditions. In response to these developments, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a policy statement on May 30, 2013 addressing their views on the future of autonomous vehicles. While endorsing the technology by promising an initial research report before 2018, the NHTSA revealed that its primary objective is human safety. Furthermore, the statement includes several safety recommendations to states that have authorized the operation and testing of this technology.
Many predict that the first driverless car will be commercially available by 2030. Before then, the biggest hurdle- that of operating safely and faultlessly under “real” roadside conditions- must be overcome. In order to replicate these conditions, a number of car manufacturers, technology companies, and military manufacturers have recently transformed four historic spaces into giant test grids in California, Michigan, and South Carolina. This is but one sign suggesting that the future is closer than we think!
Links from this Article
Picture Credit – http://amormundi.blogspot.com/2013/05/driverless-car-not-as-prophesy-but.html
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