CES 2017: Autonomous cars the cure for road deaths

Self-driving autonomous vehicles are the “vaccine” for more than one million annual global road traffic deaths and automotive manufacturers must bring the technology to market more quickly.

That’s the crux of the message from a report into testing of autonomous vehicle by an independent commission established by Washington-based energy security lobby group, Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE).

SAFE argues the arrival of the autonomous car will not only save lives in road accidents, but also reduce the US’s dependence on imported oil and save many more lives lost in military campaigns to secure oil supplies.

The intention of the commission SAFE established, which includes senior safety and transport industry figures, is to recommend a process that would allow testing of autonomous vehicles to proceed more quickly and efficiently, thus getting production cars on the road more quickly.

The report, by the Commission on Autonomous Vehicle Testing and Safety, was released today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which has this year featured a stronger automotive presence than ever – in part promoting the coming era of the connected and autonomous car.

SAFE President and CEO Robbie Diamond told the media in Las Vegas: “1.2 million people die on roads globally every year… It’s like an epidemic.

“If you had an epidemic of 1.2 million deaths in the world there would be no government that would stop at anything to put out a vaccine.

“For each day we can accelerate connected and autonomous vehicles we will save 3300 people. This is an epidemic and this is a vaccine and we are sitting on it,” Diamond said.

The SAFE exec’s hyperbolic statement continued: “At this organization, we care about the blood and treasure of the country, the world and the young people that are lost every day on our roads and on the battlefields… We really do believe autonomous vehicles are a solution to this problem and we should not hesitate for one moment.”

But the consensus from the car manufacturers is that it will be well into next decade before true set-and-forget ‘Level 4 and 5’ vehicle autonomy will be with us. And testing progress has regularly come under scrutiny as authorities grapple with the legality of testing autonomous cars on public roads.

Most recently, in late December, the Uber taxi service had to pull its self-driving cars off the streets of San Francisco after their registrations were revoked.

But the incident that has caused the greatest controversy was the death of a Tesla Model S driver in a Florida road accident in May, after which it was revealed he was relying on a beta (test) version of the car’s Autopilot semi-autonomous mode.

In its report, the Commission made recommendations for the testing of autonomous vehicles based on two requirements; improving public confidence and establishing an industry-driven regulatory framework. It called on the car industry to work together on the testing protocol, establish a level of self-policing, make results publicly available and even pool information anonymously so autonomous vehicle development can be accelerated.

Diamond acknowledged the proprietary nature of vehicle development and the competition between business rivals would discourage such a high level of co-operation. But he claimed there were good reason for them to consider it.

“Undoubtedly some of them [manufacturers] who are further ahead might want to share less and some who are behind might want to share more, but ultimately I think they see the opportunity and challenges in front of them and ultimately they can accelerate all together.

“They also understand regulators move and will do things if they don’t get ahead of it. I think there is a concern that they don’t create challenges.”

Diamond acknowledged that the manufacturers were also conscious the issue of liability. The need to protect brand image made also their deployment of autonomous technology more cautious. He said a set of uniform testing regulations across the automotive industry would hopefully speed that process up.

“We want them [manufacturers] to move faster,” said Diamond.

“We want them to feel confident that if they do move faster and a mistake happens then society will see that as a risk worthwhile taking.

“We feel that they are making responsible decisions, but with a little bit of transparency, public education and sharing they can move faster,” he said.