Posted on 01/14/2016 9:45:47 PM PST by Cowman
The American government is officially putting a giant vote of confidence behind self-driving cars. And the cash to back it up.
Today, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is announcing a nearly $4 billion plan that’ll help manufacturers and tech companies develop safe, automated vehicles in the next ten years with real-world pilot projects. It’s all part of President Obama’s plan to make American transportation as futuristic as possible.
The funds, which have been set aside in the proposed federal budget for 2017, will go toward pilot programs in specific transportation corridors in the US. The government will then work with industry leaders to kick the development of automated vehicles into high gear. The goal is to make sure that those robo-cars are safe, and that American infrastructure is ready for them.
Secretary Foxx will revealed the huge game-changer at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this afternoon with Ford, Google, Delphi and others. In a statement from the Department of Transportation provided to Gizmodo before the announcement, he said this about the plan:
“We are on the cusp of a new era in automotive technology with enormous potential to save lives, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and transform mobility for the American people. Today’s actions and those we will pursue in the coming months will provide the foundation and the path forward for manufacturers, state officials, and consumers to use new technologies and achieve their full safety potential.â€
Secretary Foxx’s announcement will also update the policy guidance on self-driving vehicles developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2013. This is crucial as it now points to autonomous vehicles as a valuable tool for creating safer streets and highways.
NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said today, in the same provided statement:
“NHTSA is using all of its available tools to accelerate the deployment of technologies that can eliminate 94 percent of fatal crashes involving human error. We will work with state partners toward creating a consistent national policy on these innovations, provide options now and into the future for manufacturers seeking to deploy autonomous vehicles, and keep our safety mission paramount at every stage.â€
How will this change start to roll out? Within the first six months of 2016, the government will hit two major milestones.
First, the NHTSA will collaborate with the industry to finalize guidelines for “safe deployment and operation of autonomous vehicles,†plus state partners, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators on the state level that can help guide a consistent framework on the national level.
Next, to accommodate the folks on the engineering side, Secretary Foxx wants manufacturers to submit “rule interpretation requests†so that the technology aligns with the law. The Department of Transportation points to one example of when BMW inquired about the company’s remote self-parking system, and whether it met federal safety standards.
Self-driving cars are coming to American roads, ready or not.
If comrade obama supports it, it’s bad for American citizens.
Funny enough, I am an uncle siting by the fire, dreaming.
Had to laugh a few days ago when one of the Google self driving cars got pulled over by the MVPD for obstructing traffic... it refused to pass a garbage truck that (for obvious reasons) kept pulling over to stop.
Oops... When I heard about it... Think it happened a few weeks ago.
Google, Apple, and most likely Amazon don’t have enough money to develop their own autonomous cars???
UNSAFE!!!!
SAFE!!!!
Ever hear of the private market?
This could set back autonomous cars decades.
Obama clearly wants to degrade and eventually destroy America.
“SAFE!!!!”
People who should never be in charge of anything are in charge of everything.
Automated vehicles will be limited to traveling only 10 miles from your house.
Whether or not these cars are a good idea, this should be financed privately, not by the taxpayers.
Actually it's all part of a leftist compulsion to restrict liberty.
I have been posting for years on these threads that the left hates the automobile not just because they believe it pollutes but because it represents untrammeled liberty emblematic of the individual sending his own course without soliciting or requiring consent of those who govern him. Like the cowboy in the classic motion picture genre, an American on the open road is quintessentially American, he is free. The idea of Americans making their own independent way is hateful to collectivists.
Collectivists don't want you riding wherever and whenever you please, they want you herded into buses and trains where you are controlled. Indeed they have even said they want to force you to be housed in geographical areas in which you can be collected and transported under controlled circumstances.
The ultimate aim of the cyber car is not safety but to require the sojourner to solicit clearance through his computer to travel along a government approved route at a government approved time in control of a government agency akin to an air traffic controller. When you want to visit grandma on Thanksgiving you will need approval of your "flight plan," a clearance and a departure time from big brother.
Companies are going to make tons of money from self-driving cars. What is spending billions of tax dollars supposed to accomplish that the private sector is not already accomplishing?
For a good long time standard cars will coexist with self-drivers.
I can easily forsee having at least one of each in my garage. The ordinary one for exactly the reasons you mention. The autonomous one for innocuous trips.
But, the older I get, the more I see an autonomous car as freedom. Someday I will be too old to drive, and so will you. Do you want to live in a nursing home and take their short bus to the mall every Thursday, or do you want to go where you want when you want?
And, how much do you want your insurance to cost? I expect autonomous cars will have very low rates.
Lastly, if you ever get pulled over, do you want an electronic record that can prove you were not speeding, weaving in your lane, etc. or do you want you word against the cop's word?
The word Boondoggle comes to mind.
Autonomous?
I agree! That car is a death trap! Now hand me the keys and I can dispose of the old gas-guzzler for you. ;)
Police departments are going to be besides themselves without taking in all the money from DUIs if people can just go on auto mode.
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