Self-driving vehiclesThe benefits, challenges of self-driving cars
Self-driving vehicles offer the promise of significant benefits to society, but raise several policy challenges, including the need to update insurance liability regulations and privacy concerns such as who will control the data generated by this technology, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Researchers suggest that a guiding principle for policymaking is to encourage the technology when the facts indicate clear societal advantages over the capabilities of the average human driver.
An unsighted "driver" in Google's self-driving car // Source: google via youtube.com
Self-driving vehicles offer the promise of significant benefits to society, but raise several policy challenges, including the need to update insurance liability regulations and privacy concerns such as who will control the data generated by this technology, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
“Our research finds that the social benefits of autonomous vehicles — including decreased crashes, increased mobility and increases in fuel economy — will outweigh the likely disadvantages,” said James Anderson, lead author of the study and a senior behavioral scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.
A RAND release reports that the study, intended as a guide for state and federal policymakers, explores communications, regulatory challenges, and liability issues raised by autonomous vehicle technology.
Anderson and his colleagues reviewed the current literature on the subject and conducted interviews with thirty stakeholders, including automobile manufacturers, technology companies, communications providers, representatives from state regulatory agencies, and others. Researchers suggest that a guiding principle for policymaking is to encourage the technology when the facts indicate clear societal advantages over the capabilities of the average human driver.
Several states (Nevada, Florida, California, Minnesota) as well as Washington, D.C., have created laws to regulate the use of autonomous vehicle technology. Other states also have proposed legislation. Unfortunately, this could lead to a patchwork of conflicting regulatory requirements that vary from state to state, which could undermine potential benefits, Anderson said.
Cars and light vehicles equipped with this technology will likely reduce crashes, energy consumption and pollution, as well as cut costs associated with congestion. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, nearly a third of all crashes could be prevented if all vehicles had forward collision and lane-departure warning systems, side-view (blind spot) assistance and adaptive headlights. And as of March 2013, Google had logged more than 500,000 miles of autonomous driving on public roads with its driverless car without incurring a crash.
Autonomous vehicles have the potential to provide increased mobility for the elderly, the disabled and the blind. The costs associated with traffic congestion could be reduced because riders could do other tasks in transit.
