Calls to prove Autonomous Vehicles are safe BEFORE they go on the road are growing — That would mean the End of Public Safety Driving
From the article — GM faces blowback on federal driverless car petition
One example
Thomas Karol, general counsel for federal issues for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, which lobbies for property and casualty insurance providers, said NHTSA “must assess whether an ADS [automated driving system] steers, brakes and accelerates at least as effectively and safely as a human driver” before it grants permission to companies like GM to put self-driving cars on U.S. roads.
Let’s set aside for a second that these vehicles are ALREADY ON THE ROAD!!!!! The calls are growing for these systems to be verified before they are used on public roads. That includes the Huang lawsuit, the NTSB after the Joshua Brown investigation where they said the systems should be able to handle scenarios germane to the location, various members of the press and industry insiders. Now we add insurance lobbies, a dealer’s association and the Center for Auto Safety. If these folks get what they want that would be the end of public shadow and safety driving. Particularly the safety driving. That would mean development and testing would have to be done in simulation and test tracks. Given the severe limitations of test tracks and the massive number of scenarios that would mean most of this has to be done in simulation. And given the severe limitations of most of the simulation systems being used in this industry, due to significant real-time, model fidelity and loading/scaling issues caused by the use of gaming architectures, that will mean the use of aerospace/DoD/FAA simulation technology and systems engineering and safety practices. (Yes, this technology is up to it. Actually, it is well beyond it. DoD conducts simulated urban war games on the same streets with better model fidelity, more of them and has the added complexity of vehicles driving off the road and them shooting at each other.)
Now for that elephant in the room. These vehicles are ALREADY ON THE ROAD!!!!! And not only are they on the road but they are in far more dangerous condition than what these folks are concerned about. They are talking about vehicles for sale. Thing is Tesla’s crossed that direct bridge. And everyone making driverless vehicles for public roadways has these vehicles on the roads developing and testing the technology these folks don’t want on the roads until they prove they have already done that. How nuts is that!!!!! If public shadow and safety driving were the best or only way to do that, they would never be able to get to where they want. It’s like walking passed a burglar to have a discussion with your family about making sure we keep the burglars out. I will be doing my best tomorrow to make them aware of this.
For more on this please see my articles below
How Driverless Vehicle Makers Should Prove their Technology Works
Using the Real World is better than Proper Simulation for Autonomous Vehicle Development — NONSENSE
SAE Autonomous Vehicle Engineering Magazine-End Public Shadow Driving
Common Misconceptions about Aerospace/DoD/FAA Simulation for Autonomous Vehicles
The Hype of Geofencing for Autonomous Vehicles
