Google’s self-driving car project has been getting a lot of attention. Along with efforts by others, the State of California has even had to start working on laws and regulations regarding self-driving cars in anticipation of developments in the field. This week, the California DMV issued their proposed rules regarding the vehicles and Google’s Chris Urmson, currently leading the project for Google, has blasted the proposal while at the same time revealing a little bit of where Google sees some of the value in the cars.
In a post on his Medium account, Urmson spends some time explaining how self-driving cars could be used by people with disabilities or people who have had to give up their keys for reasons like aging. Having access to self-driving cars would free up these individuals from reliance on public transportation sources or from friends and family, helping put an end to lots of frustration.
Urmson also points out that self-driving cars could be used by drivers who are caught in the daily grind of a commute, whether it is on the freeway or on busy surface streets. Having more vehicles that are not subject to things like the effects of happy hour or distractions from a smartphone and instead are piloted by computers designed to get people from point A to point B safely could provide a lot of stress relief for a lot of people.
The message from these potential use cases, combined with statistics suggesting 94 percent of motor vehicle accidents are due to human error, is that looking at self-driving cars is “worth a shot.” However, the new rules that the California DMV has put forth would require a licensed driver to be present in the vehicles and that full controls be in place “just in case” manual control had to be implemented. Urmson calls these proposed rules a burden for some of the very populations that would benefit most from self-driving cars and a sign of a lack of innovation in favor of the status quo on the part of the California DMV.
Since expressing his disappointment and frustration concerning the situation, at least two parties have joined Urmson in his corner. They include Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom who released a statement saying the California DMV proposal “may prove too onerous, create roadblocks to innovation, and may ultimately drive the development of this promising industry to other states.” The director of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centres, Teresa Favuzzi, also weighed in tweeting, “DMV excludes PWD (People with Disabilities) by requiring self-driving cars to have drivers.”
source: Chris Urmson (Medium)
via: Android Headlines
Come comment on this article: California DMV riles up Google’s Chris Urmson
from Android News, Rumours, and Updates http://ift.tt/1Ymv7Gy
SOURCE- talkandroid
from Creptico http://ift.tt/1QxSCrS
via IFTTT
EmoticonEmoticon