NHTSA has a new rule out requiring high-capability Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) in new vehicles from 2029. Some key points from an initial read-through of the new NHTSA AEB Rule document are below. NHTSA points out that the "vast majority of fatalities, injuries, and property damage crashes occur at speeds above 40 km/h (25 mph), which are above those covered by the voluntary commitment [to install current AEB systems]."  And they point out that only regulation via FMVSS rather than using the NCAP star rating approach can ensure that all vehicles are equipped with effective AEB. T ..read more

The past year has seen both peak hype and significant issues for the automated vehicle industry. In this talk we recap general trends and summarize the current situation for autonomous vehicles such as robotaxis, as well as conventional vehicles that have automated steering features. Many of the issues the industry faces are self-inflicted, stemming from a combination of inflated promises, attempts to scale immature technology too aggressively, and an overly narrow view of safety. Overall, the companies deploying the technology have failed to address legitimate concerns of a wide variety of st ..read more

On October 2, 2023, a Cruise robotaxi autonomous vehicle (AV) struck and dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco. The circumstances were complex. They included a different human-driven vehicle striking the pedestrian first, and what amounts to an attempted cover-up by Cruise senior management of the final portion (the dragging part) of the mishap. Many high level people were sacked. A significant fraction of staff were let go as well. A 3rd party external review was commissioned. Now we have the report. Quinn Emanuel Investigation report:  Original Link / Archive.org link Hig ..read more

Vay is deploying tele-driven cars in Las Vegas. At a first pass they have done some safety homework, but open questions remain that they should address to instill public confidence. I spent some time doing background research before posting (especially listening to this All About Autonomy podcast with their founder https://lnkd.in/eYQH72EE ). News article: https://www.msn.com/en-in/autos/news/german-firm-starts-remote-driving-car-service-in-las-vegas/ar-AA1n7qWn Initial summary of their system: - The operational concept is a rental car ferry service with a tele-driving kit on ..read more

 My 2024 AV industry prediction starts with a slide show with a sampling of the many fails for automated vehicles in 2023 (primarily Cruise, Waymo, Tesla). Yes, some hopeful progress in many regards. But so very many fails. Jalopnik slide show link is here: https://jalopnik.com/this-was-the-dire-state-of-self-driving-cars-in-2023-1851115821 At a higher level, the real event was a catastrophic failure of the industry's strategy of relentlessly shouting as loud as they can "Hey, get off our case, we're busy saving lives here!" The industry' lobbyists and spin doctors can only get s ..read more

 2023 was a busy year!  Here is a list of my presentations, podcasts, and formal publications from 2023 in case you missed any and want to catch up. Presentations: 2023: Autonomous Ground Vehicle Safety: Lessons To Learn from 2023 | Slides | Archive.org 2023: Autonomous Vehicle Policy Issues, SFCTA Board Meeting | Slides | Archive.org 2023: Breaking the Tyranny of Net Risk Metrics for Automated Vehicle Safety | Slides 2023: Defining a Computer Driver for Automated Vehicle Accountability | Slides | Arch ..read more

Bruce Schneier has written a thought-provoking piece covering the social fabric vs. human behaviors aspects of trust. Just like "safety," the word "trust" means different things in different contexts, and those differences matter in a very pressing way right now to the larger topic of AI. Exactly per Bruce's article, the car companies have guided the public discourse to be about interpersonal trust. They want us to trust their drivers as if they were super-human people driving cars, when the computer drivers are in fact not people, do not have a moral code, and do not fear jail consequences ..read more

Here is a retrospective video of robotaxi lessons learned in 2023 What happened to robotaxis in 2023 in San Francisco. The Cruise crash and related events. Lessons the industry needs to learn to take a more expansive view to safety/acceptability: Not just statistically better than a human driver Avoid negligent driving behavior Avoid risk transfer to vulnerable populations Fine-grain regulatory risk management Conform to industry safety standards Address ethical & equity concerns Build sustainable trust. Slides: https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/lectures/L141-2023-12-AV-Safety ..read more

A comparison of California Cruise robotaxi crash reports between the California DMV database and the NHTSA SGO database reveals significant discrepancies in reporting. 28 crashes reported to NHTSA do not appear in the California DMV database. This includes six unreported injury crashes. Of special note is the Cruise crash with a fire truck that caused serious injury to an occupant of the Cruise robotaxi does not appear as a California DMV crash report.  Comparison Results: 36 crashes were identified across both databases for the date-of-crash months of July 2023 through August 2023. The c ..read more

Cruise has announced a fleet-wide safety stand down. This involves suspending driverless operations in all cities, reverting to operation only with in-vehicle safety drivers. I'm glad to see this step taken. But it is crucial to realize that this is the first step in what it likely to prove a long journey. The question is, what should happen next? Loss of public trust is an issue as they say. And perhaps there was an imminent ban in another state forcing their hand to be proactive. But the core issues almost certainly run deeper than mismanaging disclosure of the details of a tragic mishap a ..read more