How are Waymo and Cruise “Fully Driverless” Vehicles Legal?
In earlier articles I discussed Waymo suing to avoid providing proof of their actual “fully driverless” no safety driver, SAE L4, capabilities, what data is needed to provide that and the legal lengths Waymo went through to do so. As well as the entire industry tacitly agreeing with Waymo and the dangers of doing so. Those articles are below.
Now I would like to ask if they are even legal? Isn’t there a criminal offense here? Particularly since these vehicles are being operated as a business to carry passengers?
Refer to — https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/driving-without-a-license-in-california.html
Driving without a license is illegal under California law. If an individual drives without a valid driver’s license, it is considered to be a criminal offense instead of just a simple traffic violation.
The California Vehicle Code Section 12500(a) provides, “[a] person may not drive a motor vehicle…unless the person then holds a valid driver’s license issued under this code, except those persons who are expressly exempted under this code.” It is important to note that the individual’s driver’s license does not have to be issued by the State of California, as long as the license is valid for the type of vehicle that the individual is driving.
In every state in the United States, operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license is illegal and may lead to strict punishments. In California, driving without a license is considered a misdemeanor.
With regard to the testing criteria please refer to this — https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/driving-test-criteria/dmv-driving-test/
The purpose of a driving test is to determine whether you:
Have the ability to operate a vehicle safely.
Exhibit safe driving habits.
Can apply your knowledge of traffic laws in real life situations.
Can make up for any physical condition, such as loss of a limb, poor hearing, or a vision condition.
Where has this test occurred at all for Waymo or Cruise in California? Setting aside the test for a machine driver must be far more expensive, which I cover below, where did the Waymo and Cruise machine drivers pass the test? What license was issued? This reckless boondoggle has gotten so bad these folks don’t even have to gundeck or rig the tests or observe the law. They just skip them. I hope the trial lawyers are paying attention. (Clearly the insurers and DOTs and NHTSA are not.)
What the “Driver’s Test” should include for a Machine Driver
• List of learned scenarios, especially crash scenarios with details — (The learned scenario testing data must also include testing the sensor, perception and planning systems. The reason for this being machine and deep learning can do the right thing for the wrong reason or by luck That is because unlike people, these systems do not yet infer well. Current general and deep learning processes are not up to that yet.)
• Disengagement data with likely crashes designated, including simulation
• Proof of all simulation model fidelity, especially sensors
Below are a couple articles that explain my POV in more detail.
Waymo and the industry can now legally hide proof their systems are not driverless or safe
By not providing any meaningful proof of being driverless, even fighting doing through a lawsuit, Waymo, Cruise and Gatik are misleading the public, putting their lives at risk, and collapsing
The Autonomous Vehicle Industry can be Saved by doing the Opposite of what is being done now to create this technology
How the failed Iranian hostage rescue in 1980 can save the Autonomous Vehicle industry
My name is Michael DeKort — I am Navy veteran (ASW-C4ISR) and a former system engineer, engineering, and program manager for Lockheed Martin. I worked in aircraft simulation, the software engineering manager for all of NORAD, a software project manager on an Aegis Weapon System baseline, and a C4ISR systems engineer for DoD/DHS and the US State Department (counter-terrorism). I am currently the Senior Advisory Technical Project Manager for FTI to the Army AI Task Force at CMU NREC (National Robotics Engineering Center)
Autonomous Industry Participation — Air and Ground
- Founder SAE On-Road Autonomous Driving Simulation Task Force
- Member SAE ORAD Verification and Validation Task Force
- Member UNECE WP.29 SG2 Virtual Testing
- Stakeholder USDOT VOICES (Virtual Open Innovation Collaborative Environment for Safety)
- Member SAE G-35, Modeling, Simulation, Training for Emerging AV Tech
- Member SAE G-34 / EUROCAE WG-114 Artificial Intelligence in Aviation
- Member Teleoperation Consortium
- Member CIVATAglobal — Civic Air Transport Association
- Stakeholder for UL4600 — Creating AV Safety Guidelines
- Member of the IEEE Artificial Intelligence & Autonomous Systems Policy Committee
SAE Autonomous Vehicle Engineering magazine editor calling me “prescient” regarding my position on Tesla and the overall driverless vehicle industry’s untenable development and testing approach — (Page 2) https://assets.techbriefs.com/EML/2021/digital_editions/ave/AVE-202109.pdf
Presented the IEEE Barus Ethics Award for Post 9/11 DoD/DHS Whistleblowing Efforts
