4 Filling Legislative Gaps in Automated Vehicles
Executive summary
An automated vehicle (AV) is one of the most critical
components in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Advances in
the development of automated driving systems (ADS), which
can replace a human driver in the future, are expected to
bring about a safer and more efficient society where diverse
social issues can be addressed. The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has pointed out four
benefits communities can expect from the advancement of
this technology:
1
– Safety: The fact that 94% of crashes are attributed
to human error
2
implies the potential to save lives and
reduce serious injuries in that specific features of ADS
are expected to remove human error. Given that more
than 37,133 people died in motor vehicle-related crashes
in the United States in 2017,
3
the lifesaving benefits of
AVs are predominant.
– Economic and societal benefits: The widespread
adoption of AVs could result in additional economic and
societal benefits. According to the NHTSA study, motor
vehicle crashes in 2010 cost $242 billion in economic
activity, including $57.6 billion in lost workplace
productivity, and $594 billion due to loss of life and
deteriorated quality of life due to injuries.
4
Decreasing
the number of motor vehicle crashes could reduce these
costs.
– Efficiency and convenience: AVs may be more
conducive to smoother traffic flow and relieve road
congestion, thus freeing up time dedicated to driving.
NHTSA estimates that Americans wasted 6.9 billion
hours and 3.1 billion gallons of fuel in traffic delays in
2014.
5
With AVs, the time and expenses previously spent
commuting could be put to better use.
– Mobility: AVs’ driver-assistance features and potential
to run without a driver behind the wheel could help most
of the vulnerable people in communities to have new
mobility options, hence improving the quality of their lives
and possibly opening up new job opportunities. Taking
into account the fact that 49 million Americans are over
65
6
and 61 million have some form of disability,
7
the
expected benefits of AVs are paramount.
In recent years, manufacturers have been deploying
technologies that form the basis of AVs in their commercially
available vehicles. For instance, research by the Ministry of
Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism of Japan
(MLIT) has revealed that 66.2% of new passenger vehicles
sold in Japan in 2016 already include automatic braking
systems that could mitigate harm or even help avoid
collisions.
8
Tesla’s Autopilot automatically adjusts the speed
of a vehicle to maintain distance between it and the vehicle
in front of it. The feature also guides the vehicle to lanes
where the traffic is moving more smoothly.
9
In addition, many AV companies have been conducting
AV testing on public roads aimed at the development of
more advanced ADS that currently are not in practical
use. For example, the American Automobile Association
(AAA) has announced that “Free Self-Driving Shuttle” has
successfully transported more than 32,000 passengers
since its launch.
10
Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving technology
subsidiary, also announced in 2018 that it would launch a
self-driving ride-sharing service “Waymo-One”,
11
and that it
has already achieved a total distance of 10 million miles in
its AV testing programme on public roads.
12
Moreover, miles
driven in AV testing in California significantly increased from
about 500,000 miles in 2017 to more than 2,000,000 miles
in 2018.
13
Meanwhile, serious accidents caused by AVs have posed
significant questions to society. Uber’s automated driving test
car killed a 49-year-old woman who tried to cross the road
in Tempe, Arizona, in March 2018,
14
and, in the same month,
a driver using Tesla’s Autopilot crashed with a median strip
on a highway in Mountain View, California, which caused the
driver’s death.
15
Just a month after these cases, AAA’s survey
in May 2018 revealed a decrease in the social acceptance
of AVs, where 73% of 1,014 respondents expressed unease
about riding in AVs, which was a 10% increase from the
previous year.
16
On the practical side, growing scepticism
about AV safety eventually pressured several AV companies
into temporarily halting AV testing on public roads
17
and
possibly affected the Senate’s opposing the AV START Act.
The bill aims to establish regulations for the development of
ADS in the US and has yet to pass the Senate.
18
Thus, it is critical to promote social acceptance by
addressing not only technical aspects such as enhancing
AV safety but also non-technical aspects such as educating
consumers on the function and limitation of ADS, securing
a solid legal basis for AVs in line with the technological
progress and clarifying responsibility and liability. To promote
meaningful dialogue, this White Paper provides an overview
of recent legislative trends and explores possible challenges
the community pursuing AVs’ deployment will have to
address, particularly by focusing on the non-technological
aspects.