Automated vehicles may help cut deaths
Source: Bloomberg News |
October 24, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
GOOGLE Inc and automakers are having "extensive discussions" with US safety regulators about self-driving cars such as the one the search engine leader has developed, the top US auto regulator said yesterday.
"The development of automated vehicles is a worthy goal," National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland said at an automated-vehicles forum in Washington.
Cars that drive themselves may help cut the approximately 33,000 annual US highway deaths while requiring changes in how vehicle safety is regulated, Strickland said.
Google, which developed its autonomous car in secret, is testing it on US roads. California Governor Jerry Brown last month signed a law allowing trials of self-driving cars on the state's highways, as long as there's a human in the driver's seat to take over if needed.
NHTSA, which evaluates vehicles for safety in crash tests and sets standards for parts from headlights to windshield wipers, will have to find a way to evaluate the software or other systems that control an autonomous vehicle, said Ron Medford, the agency's deputy administrator.
Google, as a technology company getting attention for its foray into the automotive sector, "has to be right the first time" on autonomous vehicles, said Chris Urmson, the company's technical leader on the project.
"We recognize the responsibility that comes with that," he said. "It's important that we proceed as quickly as possible but with all the appropriate caution and safety consciousness."
Volvo sees autonomous vehicles as part of its strategy to eliminate deaths among people driving its cars by 2020. The Swedish carmaker, owned by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co, wants US regulators to take the lead so states don't pass varying laws that may restrict testing or use of the technologies, said Peter Mertens, senior vice president for research and development.
"The development of automated vehicles is a worthy goal," National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland said at an automated-vehicles forum in Washington.
Cars that drive themselves may help cut the approximately 33,000 annual US highway deaths while requiring changes in how vehicle safety is regulated, Strickland said.
Google, which developed its autonomous car in secret, is testing it on US roads. California Governor Jerry Brown last month signed a law allowing trials of self-driving cars on the state's highways, as long as there's a human in the driver's seat to take over if needed.
NHTSA, which evaluates vehicles for safety in crash tests and sets standards for parts from headlights to windshield wipers, will have to find a way to evaluate the software or other systems that control an autonomous vehicle, said Ron Medford, the agency's deputy administrator.
Google, as a technology company getting attention for its foray into the automotive sector, "has to be right the first time" on autonomous vehicles, said Chris Urmson, the company's technical leader on the project.
"We recognize the responsibility that comes with that," he said. "It's important that we proceed as quickly as possible but with all the appropriate caution and safety consciousness."
Volvo sees autonomous vehicles as part of its strategy to eliminate deaths among people driving its cars by 2020. The Swedish carmaker, owned by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co, wants US regulators to take the lead so states don't pass varying laws that may restrict testing or use of the technologies, said Peter Mertens, senior vice president for research and development.
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