Abstract
This chapter will review three questions that prompted significant discussion at the 2014 Symposium on Vehicle Automation sponsored by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) as potential accelerators or brakes for deployment of automated vehicles: (1) Where are uniform laws needed? (2) What deployment will come first and will it be evolutionary or revolutionary? (3) How should tests be devised for ratings or certification? Participants in the “Legal Accelerators and Brakes” session noted that the legal environment does not appear to be the obstacle, or “brake” to autonomous vehicle deployment that many fear it will be. Greater uniformity in operational laws, such as tailgating and distracted driving, as well as in safety testing standards, could potentially accelerate deployment. Participants in the session concluded that key privacy and security questions will be informed by legal developments that are not unique to driving.
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Notes
- 1.
The work of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is one of the most prominent efforts in this area.
- 2.
For example, a products liability defense attorney at the TRB/AUVSI meeting pointed out that two different tests (risk-benefit and consumer expectation) co-exist in the United States without creating significant legal confusion.
- 3.
For example, California’s Senate Bill No. 1298, which would add language to the California Vehicle Code, states: ‘(G) The autonomous vehicle has a separate mechanism, in addition to, and separate from, any other mechanism required by law, to capture and store the autonomous technology sensord ata for at least 30 seconds before a collision occurs between the autonomous vehicle and another vehicle, object, or natural person while the vehicle is operating in autonomous mode.’ http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_1251-1300/sb_1298_bill_20120925_chaptered.pdf. See also Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (“Auto Alliance”) Privacy Principlesf or Vehicle Technologies and Services, http://www.autoalliance.org/index.cfm?objectid=865F3AC0-68FD-11E4-866D000C296BA163 last accessed 29 May 2015.
- 4.
Some of these activities may be illegal in the context of individual state “distracted driving” laws. Currently, 44 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands ban text messaging for all drivers. Fourteen states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving. www.distraction.gov (last accessed 11/25/14).
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Stanley, K.D., Partridge, E., Douma, F. (2015). Legal Accelerators and Brakes for Deployment of Automated Vehicles. In: Meyer, G., Beiker, S. (eds) Road Vehicle Automation 2. Lecture Notes in Mobility. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19078-5_9
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