Lack of federal regulation is one of the main reasons why mass adoption of self-driving cars is still years away. There is no legal framework that would establish requirements that all manufacturers would have to meet in order to make sure autonomous vehicles are safe to use on public roads and that all potential legal, privacy and security concerns associated with their operation, are addressed.
But now, self-driving cars seem to be one step closer to overcoming some of the biggest regulatory and legal obstacles, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stating that the artificial intelligence system employed by Google’s driverless car prototypes can be viewed as a human driver.
Major Breakthrough for Autonomous Cars
The federal agency that is in charge of setting motor vehicle safety standards has sent a letter to Google, informing the company that it could consider the tech giant’s self-driving system a driver. This is a very significant statement, as it suggests that the NHTSA could allow operation of autonomous cars without requiring a human driver to be present at all times, which would be a great concession from the rules that are in effect currently.
Current safety regulations require driverless cars to be equipped with a steering wheel, along with a gas and a brake pedal, and a licensed driver to be sitting behind the wheel, so that the driver can take control of the vehicle in case of emergency.
That is why Google asked the NHTSA to provide a more specific definition for the term “driver”, because its cars are controlled by an artificial intelligence system that has no need for a human driver, as the company itself explains.
The above-mentioned letter was in response to Google’s request from November, 2015, and was addressed to the director of the tech giant’s self-driving car project, Chris Urmson.
In it, NHTSA clarifies what might constitute a “driver” in the context of Google’s self-driving cars.
“NHTSA will interpret ‘driver’ in the context of Google’s described motor vehicle design as referring to the (self-driving system), and not to any of the vehicle occupants,” says NHTSA.
The letter goes on to state that NHTSA “agrees with Google its (self-driving car) will not have a ‘driver’ in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than one hundred years.”
“If no human occupant of the vehicle can actually drive the vehicle, it is more reasonable to identify the driver as whatever (as opposed to whoever) is doing the driving. In this instance, an item of motor vehicle equipment, the SDS, is actually driving the vehicle”, the letter reads.
Accelerating Google’s Self-Driving Car Project
The clarifications provided in NHTSA’s letter will be a great boost for Google’s autonomous car program, as the tech company has been waiting for a permission to test its self-driving car prototypes – that it has designed and built itself, and have no steering wheel or pedals – on public roads.
With NHTSA saying that artificial intelligence systems can be interpreted as drivers, automakers and tech companies are expected to ramp up their efforts for developing fully-autonomous vehicles that don’t need a human driver, and that should help make self-driving cars a reality pretty soon.