A leading expert in automotive design has been outspokenly discussing his own belief that the federal government should implement a national driver’s test that autonomous vehicles must be able to pass in order to operate on public roads. The expert is Henry Liu, the head of the University of Michigan’s autonomous vehicle testing center. Lui expressed that having some sort of test in place will set a precedent and standards that these self-driving vehicles must follow. He feels deeply that measures should be put in place after autonomous vehicles have been a part of many accidents in their testing phases, posing a threat to actual human drivers and pedestrians, as well as infrastructure.
Lui gave an interview detailing how this would ensure safety for all aspects of the equation.
Essentially, he explained that first and foremost this will protect consumers and humans on the road. Having standards set means autonomous vehicles must meet the requirements of them, which ensures higher chances of better driving, just like how an actual driver’s test works. Additionally, this will help protect the autonomous vehicle developers. By enforcing specific rules that they must follow, it reduces the risk of the vehicles, which lowers their liability concerns.
Finally, he explained that the federal government will be kept safe as well if they implement rules now rather than later. Lui described the federal government as just as liable as the vehicle makers at this point in time, and suggested that by getting ahead of the development, they will similarly reduce their liability.
A number of high-profile car accidents have involved autonomous vehicles in the past few years.
Because of the high risk factor with these cars, the public has been outspokenly concerned about these vehicle types. Many are uninterested in being testers in testing cities because they worry they will get into an accident due to the self-driving car. This creates big issues for the developers as they need a big testing pool to prove the success of their work. Lui believes that if the vehicles had some sort of test and standard requirements, the general public would be more inclined to participate in testing and lead to stronger development.
While Lui is pushing for this, he continuously has expressed positive belief in the success of autonomous vehicles. With proper legal and developmental navigation, he remains confident that autonomous cars can be released in a widespread manner.
