Autonomous Vehicles is probably the most exciting technological advancement for people working in the mobility industry. Experts predict that our current mobility habits will change radically with the uptake of autonomous vehicles (AVs) (Shaver, 2019). Whether it be autonomous busses, autonomous taxies, or autonomous personal vehicles. Pilots are run all over the world, however, the scope is still quite small. It was long assumed that AVs would be on the market by 2030, but as the year is approaching without major technological improvements, experts are starting to agree that it will take another 20-30 years before these vehicles become the main mean of transport (Dormehl & Edelstein, 2019). Companies such as Google and Uber have been testing self-driving cars for almost a decade, but the codes are still bugging (Dormehl & Edelstein, 2019). Furthermore, a new issue has emerged. In 2016, one of Uber’s AVs killed a woman who was jaywalking (Columbia, 2020). In this particular case, the National Transpiration Safety Board (NTSB) decided to split the blame among Uber, the company’s autonomous vehicle (AV), the safety driver in the vehicle, the victim, and the state of Arizona (Columbia, 2020). However, this incident highlighted the urgency of the problem and put the libability issue on the agenda. Car manufacturers are not yet ready for taking the liability for such accidents, and the most advanced AVs on the market are still arequired to be driven with a driver/ supervisor who is responsible for taking over control of the vehicle should anything go wrong. Currently, it is the driver of the vehicle who is liable should there be an accident. However, once we move into level 5 autonomy (see illustration bellow), the legal issue has to be solved, and laws and regulations established. The problem is that such accidents typically are very complex and in certain situations, the AV might have to choose between killing its passengers or the pedestrians which poses another issue (Columbia, 2020).
Personally, I believe we will have to create new infrastructure where cars can move without interactions, kind of like a subway system before AVs can run freely on the roads.
Source: Synopsys (n.d.)
Sources:
Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science. (2020, January 14). Who’s liable? The AV or the human driver?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 20, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200114163142.htm
Dormehl, L., & Edelstein, S. (2019, February 3). Sit back, relax, and enjoy a ride through the history of self-driving cars. Retrieved from Digital Trends: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/history-of-self-driving-cars-milestones/
Shaver, K. (2019, July 20). City planners eye self-driving vehicles to correct mistakes of the 20th-century auto. Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2019/07/20/city-planners-eye-self-driving-vehicles-correct-mistakes-th-century-auto/
Synopsys (n.d.). The 6 Levels of Vehicle Autonomy Explained. Retrieved from Synopsys: https://www.synopsys.com/automotive/autonomous-driving-levels.html
Interesting insights, Josephine! I would agree that before level 5 autonomous vehicles (AV) are able to roam around the cities and highways we will not truly believe in the autonomous driving revolution.
However, I am very curious to see how this transition will take place and start transforming our mobility. Among the most known AV technologies are Level 2 and 3 autonomous trucks, technology coined truck platooning (Chottani et al., 2018). Interestingly, it is already expected that US interstate highway truck platooning will start as soon as 2022 (Chottanu et al., 2018). Here there will be only 1 human driver for 2 trucks. We will stumble again with the same issues you raised above: who would be liable in case of accidents on highway in the leading truck, is it the driver or the AV? What about the truck behind, does it get liability linked to the driver in front or is the firm liable?
Secondly, I would like to counter the argument for increase infrastructure for AV Level 5 driving. Currently even reliable, fast 4G coverage is not available in many countries, including notably Germany (KPMG, 2020; p. 58). For a ‘subway-like’ system we would need high integration of infrastructure to allow for ‘Vehicle-to-Everything” (V2X) communication. This would imply that vehicles can communicate between themselves, with the infrastructure, with people and with networks (Geenen, Nasseri, Schiphorst, 2020). But then we need not only reliable 5G technology (i.e. more advanced than 4G), but also very extensive 3-D maps, numerous city cameras and radars (Geenen, Nasseri, Schiphorst, 2020). This will be a very long stretch for most countries, with the notable exception of The Netherlands and South Korea (KPMG, 2020).
Chottani, A., Hastings, G., Murnane, G., Neuhaus, J., 2018. Distraction or Disruption? Autonomous Trucks Gain Ground in US Logistics. McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/travel-logistics-and-transport-infrastructure/our-insights/distraction-or-disruption-autonomous-trucks-gain-ground-in-us-logistics [Accessed September 15, 2020].
Geenen, B., Nasseri, A. & Schiphorst, A., 2020. Autonomous Vehicle Technology Report. Amsterdam: Wevolver.
KPMG. (2020). 2020 Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index (pp. 1-68, Rep. No. 136956-G). Australia: KPMG International.
Hi Gheorghe, thank you for your elaborate contribution to the discussion. I do agree with you that such a “subway” system will require a lot of infrastructural adjustments that currently are not feasible in most parts of the world. Several experts also agree that it will probably take another 10-20 years before we see a large scale uptake of AVs because they are still not smart enough to foresee every possible scenario, meaning that no-one really wants to be liable for them yet. Maybe by then, infrastructure will be more ready for a “subway”-type of system, or maybe the cars will be so good that there’s no need for it. But who knows what the future will bring 🙂