On Monday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) released its Federal Automated Vehicles policy Monday, detailing its 15-point Safety Assessment and guidelines, which were created to help manufacturers meet safety requirements and prepare the public for driverless cars on the roads.
The DOT’s safety guidelines include pointers on “post-crash behavior,” “privacy,” “data recording and sharing,” “crashworthiness,” and “ethical considerations,” among other stipulations.
According to TechCrunch, the DOT believes “that automated vehicles hold enormous potential benefits for safety, mobility and sustainability,” a point that President Barack Obama wrote about in an op-ed published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday:
Right now, too many people die on our roads – 35,200 last year alone – with 94 percent of those the result of human error or choice. Automated vehicles have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives each year. And right now, for too many senior citizens and Americans with disabilities, driving isn’t an option. Automated vehicles could change their lives.
…
That’s why my administration is rolling out new rules of the road for automated vehicles – guidance that the manufacturers developing self-driving cars should follow to keep us safe. 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.
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/778254671349624832
Business Insider published an article this summer in which it noted that by the year 2020, there will be 10 million self-driving cars on the road.
Despite the excitement surrounding these self-driving vehicles, some experts are warning that the rise of these cars could lead to accidents without human supervision.
Some even warn of couples having sex in moving vehicles. Barrie Kirk of the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence reportedly predicted that “once computers are doing the driving, there will be a lot more sex in cars.”
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.