Fed Banks On Self Driving Technology To Half Traffic Deaths - What Will Be The Real Figure?

Self-driving cars should be capable of cutting the annual number of traffic deaths in half by the time they’re ready for widespread use on American roads, a top federal official says.

In what may be a preview of the revised guidance on autonomous-vehicle development that government officials are scheduled to unveil next month, Mark Rosekind, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said he wants concrete safety for the technology. “I’d actually like to throw the gauntlet down,” he said, speaking on a panel during the TU-Automotive conference in Detroit. “Start with two times better. We need to set a higher bar if we expect safety to actually be a benefit here as opposed to just an equivalency. While no one wants to say, ‘How good is good enough?,’ I’d actually say, ‘Start at two times and then let’s work from there.’ ”

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TomM - 6/17/2016 3:46:10 PM

+2 Boost

That depends on How the "self-driving" technology is mined by the State. Remember - that technology would allow the state to actually put in HARD speed limits on roads (The car would receive a signal from the road itself) - preventing speeding - It would allow control of speeds when conditions warrant it - like in snow, fog, or flooding- or at certain curves and intersections. It would also allow the government to set the distance between cars as well. Along with preventing driving under the influence - if you take that away - and SPEED away - most deadly accidents have one of those two in the equation. While it would take all the fun out of driving - it would certainly be safer. The question is - would the people allow the government that much intrusion in their lives - I would suspect a lot of car enthusiasts would be against such control. However - since most cars are used for transportation - it is likely the enthusiasts would lose that vote.