CA DMV backs allowing self-driving cars with no human on board
State DMV backs allowing self-driving cars with no human
on board
By David R. Baker and Carolyn Said March 10, 2017
Updated: March 10, 2017 8:28pm
Self-driving cars with no human behind the wheel — or,
for that matter, any steering wheel at all — may soon appear on California’s
public roads, under regulations state officials proposed Friday.
The rules represent a delicate balance, trying to ensure
the safety of a new technology many people don’t trust while avoiding tough
restrictions that could send car companies fleeing to other states.
Until now, California has required all 27 companies
testing autonomous cars in the state to have someone in the driver’s seat,
ready to take over, when testing on public roads. And those vehicles needed to
have steering wheels and brake pedals, even if some self-driving car engineers
didn’t consider them necessary.
Both of those requirements would disappear under the new
regulations proposed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Instead, automakers would need to certify to the state
that their own testing — either on closed tracks or through computer modeling —
shows the cars are ready to operate on public roads with no one behind the
wheel. Tests with no driver would require an operator monitoring the car, ready
to steer via remote control if necessary.
And if automakers want to deploy cars without such
standard controls as a steering wheel and pedals, they would first need the
approval of federal highway safety officials.
“Combining all those things together, we think, gives you
the assurance of the safety of the vehicle,” said Brian Soublet, the DMV’s
chief counsel and deputy director.
The regulations, which could take effect by year’s end,
are designed to carry the Golden State into a future in which driverless cars
are no longer experimental, but commercially available.
That future may not be far off. Ford Motor Co., for
example, has committed to deploying self-driving taxis by 2021. Automakers see
the technology as a way to prevent many if not most of the accidents that kill
more than 30,000 people in the United States each year.
The proposed rules are intended to keep California at the
forefront of this fast-developing field.
The Bay Area in particular has turned into a hub of
self-driving research, largely due to the work of such Silicon Valley companies
as Google and Tesla. One hundred eighty autonomous cars are now licensed for
testing in the state. But other states and cities — including Arizona, Michigan
and Pittsburgh — have welcomed self-driving tests.
“We’re opening a path for driverless testing, so that
will encourage these companies to continue their work in California,” Soublet
said.
Nidhi Kalra, senior information scientist at the Rand
Corp. think tank, said California’s proposed rules are still more restrictive
than those in other states. For example, most states don’t require companies
testing self-driving cars to report the number of times they have to disengage
the system during tests, while California does.
“I’d call these (regulations) reasonably competitive —
not the most permissive or business friendly,” Kalra said. Overall, she thinks
the rules should allow the state to continue as a hotbed for autonomous vehicle
development.
“These companies didn’t come to Silicon Valley because it
has terrific regulations for autonomous vehicles,” Kalra said. “They came
because of culture, environment, resources, talent. I don’t think they’ll leave
as long as the regulations don’t stifle them or create onerous hurdles.”
The DMV has been developing rules for self-driving cars
since 2012, and at times, the auto industry has pushed back.
Last year, for example, the state proposed requiring that
companies receive permission from a city, through a resolution or ordinance,
before testing autonomous cars in that locality. That idea has since been
dropped.
Some automakers on Friday cautiously welcomed the
proposed rules as an improvement over previous drafts.
“Ultimately, these technologies have the potential to
save lives, and thoughtful, coordinated federal and state guidelines that
encourage innovation and enable testing will reduce the time it will take to
bring automated vehicles to market and provide our customers increased
confidence in their performance,” Honda Motor Co. said in a statement.
Not all agreed. The Association of Global Automakers,
which represents many foreign car companies (including Honda), called some of
the new requirements “unnecessary and prescriptive.”
Some consumer advocates, meanwhile, complained that the
state was being too lenient with automakers.
“The DMV’s current self-driving car test regulations set
a standard for the nation, requiring a test driver behind a steering wheel who
could take over, and vital public reports about testing activities,” said John
Simpson, with the nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog. “The new rules are too
industry friendly and don’t adequately protect consumers.”
The proposed regulations cede setting safety and
performance standards to the federal National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. California’s role would be to assure that vehicles meet the
federal standards and comply with traffic regulations. The state would also
retain its authority to issue permits for vehicles or revoke those permits if
companies violate the regulations.
“The vehicles have to be programmed and designed to obey
California vehicle code and any local traffic ordinances,” Soublet said.
Manufacturers must offer annual updates to keep pace with changing laws.
“If you’re obeying the law, your car won’t run a stop
light, turn left when it’s not supposed to, or, heaven forbid, run over a
pedestrian in a crosswalk,” he said.
Manufacturers also must have a “law enforcement
interaction plan.”
“We discussed with the Highway Patrol what they’d want to
see in responding to (autonomous) vehicles,” Soublet said. “Simple things, like
where in the vehicle will we find out who owns it and whether it’s insured? How
do we know if autonomy is engaged; how do we get it off the road and tow it if
we need to?”
Some elements of the proposed rules seem tailored to
address issues raised by specific companies.
For example, the regulations would forbid companies from
charging passengers for a ride in a self-driving car that is operating in a
test. Uber staged a very public fight with the DMV last year over self-driving
car regulations as it briefly picked up passengers in San Francisco in robot
cars with human drivers. After the DMV ordered the company to stop, it sent the
cars to Arizona, where they are picking up passengers in Tempe. (Uber received
permission this week to operate two self-driving cars in California.)
The proposal also dropped the DMV’s objection to car
companies using the terms “self-driving,” “automated” or “auto-pilot” to
advertise their cars unless those cars are truly autonomous. That objection,
raised last fall, seemed aimed at Tesla, whose Autopilot feature can control
the company’s electric cars on the freeway but still needs active human
supervision.
Tesla on Friday thanked regulators for the change.
“Our customers have made clear that they understand
Autopilot’s intended use,” the company said, in an emailed statement.
David R. Baker and Carolyn Said are San Francisco
Chronicle staff writers. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com, csaid@sfchronicle.com
Twitter: @DavidBakerSF, @csaid
New rules for robot cars
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has proposed
new regulations for the testing and sale of self-driving cars. The rules are intended
to ensure public safety — and keep the industry from leaving California.
Self-driving cars being tested on public roads would no
longer require a human behind the wheel, ready to take over if needed.
Those cars would, however, need to be monitored by
someone able to take over via remote control.
Automakers could deploy cars with no steering wheels or
brake pedals, but only if the National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration first agrees that the cars are safe.
Source: DMV
By the numbers
27 Number of companies testing self-driving cars in
California
180 Number of licensed self-driving cars in California
658 Number of drivers permitted to test-drive autonomous
cars in California
Leaders: Google/Waymo (77 cars, 239 drivers); GM/Cruise
(27 cars, 55 drivers); Tesla (24 cars, 64 drivers)
Source: DMV
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