In boost to self-driving cars, U.S. tells Google computers can qualify as drivers

[Recursion]

Source: Reuters

U.S. vehicle safety regulators have said the artificial intelligence system piloting a self-driving Google car could be considered the driver under federal law, a major step toward ultimately winning approval for autonomous vehicles on the roads.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), of its decision in a previously unreported Feb. 4 letter to the company posted on the agency's website this week.

Google's self-driving car unit on Nov. 12 submitted a proposed design for a self-driving car that has "no need for a human driver," the letter to Google from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Chief Counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh said.

"NHTSA will interpret 'driver' in the context of Google's described motor vehicle design as referring to the (self-driving system), and not to any of the vehicle occupants," NHTSA's letter said.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-alphabet-autos-selfdriving-exclusive-idUSKCN0VJ00H

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Human drivers kill 32,000 Americans every year; it's roughly equal to gun deaths. This can cut that drastically.

[houston16revival]

1. Remember

Toyota's self-accelerating brake pedal problem?

THIS is going to be rich to watch indeed.

[bananas]

2. Even airplane autopilots require human monitoring and intervention

From the OP:

WORRIES ABOUT PEOPLE UNDERMINING SAFETY

Google told NHTSA that the real danger is having auto safety features that could tempt humans to try to take control.

Google "expresses concern that providing human occupants of the vehicle with mechanisms to control things like steering, acceleration, braking... could be detrimental to safety because the human occupants could attempt to override the (self-driving system's) decisions," the NHTSA letter stated.

That's a mistake, as we know with airplanes, there will always be situations the autopilot can't handle.

[whatthehey]

3. Great news. Hasten the day.

And all the luddite Chicken Littles need to start adding up all their weird scenarios and tell me when that total would exceed the mayhem on the roads with human drivers today, THEN tell me why those weird scenarios will happen when we have well over a million miles driven on public roads with ZERO accidents the fault of the self-driving car, and that's in test mode pre release.

[woundedkarma]

4. Not exactly...

"Human drivers kill 32,000 Americans every year; it's roughly equal to gun deaths. This can cut that drastically."

As an embedded programmer (and a late-starting driver who hates driving) I've been watching the evolution of self-driving cars.

I think it's a mistake to assume that self-driving cars will stop all accidents completely or that there will even be a reduction in the number of accidents and deaths per year. There could easily be a big increase in deaths/accidents.

You can't get rid of all the bugs in a system. Self-driving cars are incredibly complex systems. A single, simple programming error can kill a lot of people. And while google may have done well with their system, once this thing opens up there are going to be multiple different systems designed and written by many different people and they will not have written perfect code.

Here's some fun reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_software_bugs

In one class we were forced to read about this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25 -- Simple bugs that killed about 6 people but there may be more we don't know about.

[Recursion]

5. I'm also an embedded programmer (Forth, mostly), and I never said they would eliminate deaths

I said they would cut them drastically, which I find hard to deny.

[dembotoz]

6. well in my basement i have an apple 2e and a commedore 64 both over 16 years old

[Bernin]

10. TRS-80 Color Computer in mine.

Complete with tape drive.

[brooklynite]

7. Motorists told not to stop for ducks crossing freeway

Grind TV:

A mother duck and its ducklings played a real game of Frogger on a freeway in Mounds View, Minnesota, resulting in drivers swerving or slamming their brakes to avoid running them over.

While some might think the ducks were cute, not to mention extremely lucky, the Minnesota State Patrol was not amused.

After video of the event surfaced, the Minnesota State Patrol on Thursday had a message for those drivers: Next time, don’t stop.

“I watched that video and I cringed,” Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Tiffani Nielson told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “People should not stop on the freeway for ducks.

I'm trying to imagine how an automated car would respond.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

8. corporations are people - computers are people

people are ???

[Bernin]

11. Screwed!

[Blue_Tires]

9. I'll still never understand the appeal of self-driving cars...

[Bernin]

12. Would not set foot in one.

Hacking these things will be all too easy.

[chapdrum]

13. "Who" is responsible in a collision?

What a great contribution to society.

Thank you Overlord Google.