U.S. Considers Expanding Automated-Driving Technology Oversight
July 19 2016 - 4:40PM
Dow Jones News
Federal auto-safety regulators are weighing requiring approval
of automated-driving technologies before they reach the road,
potentially expanding government oversight of auto makers after the
first fatal crash involving a vehicle driving itself.
Existing motor-vehicle safety rules don't address autonomous
vehicles, meaning regulators have no authority to block
automated-car technologies before they are introduced. The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration is often limited to
addressing potential safety problems after mishaps occur.
"There is no express prohibition of autonomous vehicles in …
federal motor vehicle safety standards," U.S. Transportation
Secretary Anthony Foxx said.
That regulatory regime allowed Tesla Motors Inc. to roll out its
so-called Autopilot automated-driving system via a software update
to many of its electric vehicles in October. A May 7 fatal crash
involving the system in Florida gave regulators an opportunity to
effectively scrutinize the technology.
Mr. Foxx said Tuesday that U.S. regulators may soon demand a say
before such technology reaches drivers.
"I've been encouraging our team to think about … the extent to
which we should encourage pre-market-approval steps. That would
require industry and the department to be more in sync and more
rigorous on the front end of development and testing," he said at
an industry conference in San Francisco. "This change would be one
that could help us assure not only ourselves but the industry and
also consumers that the vehicles they are getting into are ones
that have been stress-tested."
Such a move would significantly expand the federal government's
oversight of an industry at a time that Washington lawmakers,
safety advocates and the Transportation Department's inspector
general have criticized regulators for relying too much on auto
makers to report potential problems. The consideration of an
approval process also reflects regulators' struggle to keep up with
driverless-car technology as it starts to show up on U.S.
roads.
Mr. Foxx's comments reflect a desire on the part of regulators
to better police emerging technologies that reduce drivers' role in
maneuvering a vehicle. But he didn't indicate how regulators would
go about preapproving any technologies. Regulators could need to
develop new rules or seek additional power from Congress to block
automated-car technologies they find troubling.
An approval process could slow the adoption of driverless-car
technology, which researchers expect to save millions of lives over
the next decade, said Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry group.
"The technology is moving quickly and we don't want to limit the
innovation," Ms. Bergquist said. U.S. officials should practice
"regulatory humility," as the Federal Communications Commission did
at the advent of the internet, allowing the technology to flourish,
she added.
Mr. Foxx also said his department is convening a federal
advisory committee to examine issues surrounding driverless cars,
and would create model driverless-car policy for states to adopt to
avoid a patchwork of state regulations.
Determining the safety of an autonomous car is easier said than
done. Chris Urmson, the technical leader of Google parent Alphabet
Inc.'s self-driving car program, has said the obvious comparison is
whether the automated system is better than a human at driving.
NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind estimated that a robot car should
be at least twice as good as a person to be released to the
public.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, in a recent interview with The
Wall Street Journal, said it's impossible to know exactly how safe
a system is before it is deployed.
"You can't. You wouldn't even know," Mr. Musk said. "If we knew
we had a system that on balance would save lives, what kind of
f------ coward wouldn't deploy that system. There is the coward's
path, we are not taking that."
Mike Ramsey contributed to this article.
Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com and Mike Spector at
mike.spector@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 19, 2016 16:25 ET (20:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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