Lawmakers Question Self Driving Capability And Lax Regulations

Thanks to the incredibly lax and voluntary guidelines outlined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, automakers have had free reign to develop and test autonomous technology as they see fit. Meanwhile, the majority of states have seemed eager to welcome companies to their neck of the woods with a minimum of hassle. But things are beginning to change after a handful of high-profile accidents are forcing public officials to question whether the current approach to self-driving cars is the correct one.

The House of Representatives has already passed the SELF DRIVE Act. But it’s bipartisan companion piece, the AV START Act, has been hung up in the Senate for months now. The intent of the legislation is to remove potential barriers for autonomous development and fast track the implementation of self-driving technology. But a handful of legislators and consumer advocacy groups have claimed AV START doesn’t place a strong enough emphasis on safety and cyber security. Interesting, considering SELF DRIVE appeared to be less hard on manufacturers and passed with overwhelming support.

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TomM - 4/23/2018 11:31:21 AM

+2 Boost

AS long as the Manufacturers have a way of Updating software of cars over the "air" - Hackers will make Vehicle software the Autonomous car's achilles heal. THERE is no Security that exists that would prevent a hacker from causing Havoc on the road. THere is no law congress can pass that will prevent problems - because these people do not even have to be in this country to cause the problems.

THe ONLY way to prevent that would be to make sure the actual operating software is on a computer that can only be modified IN PERSON - at a dealership (And while that still could create problems - they will be minimized).. Today - General Motors has a separate system - OnStar - that can be compromised - and it has SOME control over other control systems in a car. Imagine a Hacker having OnStar TURN OFF every engine. WHat a mess. But - Tesla actually can update ALL of its software over the "air" - and as I have pointed out - if a Hacker wanted to cause Havoc - they could literally blow up every Tesla at one time if they are good enough. At the least - a car should not be able to UPDATE its software while the car is running on the road - it could allow a download - but not implementation.

And this has noting to do with the possibility that an Autonomous feature may not be able to recognize every possible glitch - which is a given as well.

THose that say that AUtonomous cars will take over the earth - are not being rational today - or for a LONG time into the future. I still believe Autonomous cars will be restricted to specific routes - limited access highways - and certain speed limits initially - and we do not have that infrastructure in place. Otherwise - you will still have a "driver" available requirement.

TheSteve - 4/23/2018 2:53:57 PM

+2 Boost

TomM, so far, hackers have not played *ANY* part in vehicle crashes involving self-driving aids. In all cases, the driver treated the system as though it was (Level 5) autonomous when it was not.