Regulators: Don’t slam the brakes on driverless cars

The United States is on the cusp of the biggest revolution in transportation in over a century. In 1908, Henry Ford opened motoring to middle class Americans with his affordable Model T. Today, the rapid rise of driverless cars offers an entirely new proposition for moving people and goods. If allowed to blossom, these vehicles will save lives, improve transport efficiency, encourage fuel diversity and end oil dependence, and give mobility to millions of people who have none due to age or disability.

Recognizing the potential of autonomous vehicles to transform passenger travel and freight, the U.S. Department of Transportation and California Department of Motor Vehicles are drafting guidelines and regulations to encourage the safe deployment of driverless technologies on American roads. But trying to keep up with the fast-paced private sector in this area is nearly impossible, and regulators should avoid scrambling to enact unnecessary rules to delay this transformation or to protect incumbent industries through cronyism under the guise of health and safety.

{mosads}Although I count myself a proponent of the precautionary principle, the proposed rules from the California DMV would slam the brakes on the full potential of a self-driving future. By requiring passengers to be licensed and able to intervene in the vehicle’s operation, despite ample research proving people are incapable of reacting at a moment’s notice after periods of inactivity, these proposed rules could actually increase the risk of accidents and injury. Moreover, the draft rules, while well-intentioned, threaten to turn America’s home for technological innovation into a no-mans-land for driverless cars. Already, companies like Google are forming contingency plans, testing their vehicles in states like Texas, just in case California’s risky regulations become law.

The Department of Transportation looks to be taking a more open approach, encouraging businesses to start a dialogue with the agency and other stakeholders while seeking to remove regulatory roadblocks. The priority, according to DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx, is to get driverless cars testing on public roads as quickly and safely as possible. This desire is well warranted, as every day we delay the widespread deployment of these vehicles, we put American lives at risk.

There were over 6 million car crashes in the United States last year, injuring 2.3 million people and killing nearly 33,000. About 94 percent of those crashes were caused by human error. Turning over the responsibility of driving to a driverless car would reduce fatal accidents by 90 percent—virtually eradicating an epidemic that kills nearly as many people every year as pancreatic cancer. Injuries would decrease too, saving billions in unnecessary healthcare costs. Road rage would become a thing of the past as congestion eases and cars become traveling offices, freeing up millions of hours in lost productivity. And because electric vehicles and autonomy technologies are complementary, ditching the driver would likely reduce our dependence on oil faster than any other step we could take, saving the lives of American soldiers embroiled in conflicts around the world fueled by our global reliance on this strategic commodity.

For millions of Americans, driving has never been an option, including for my own child, who likely won’t be getting her learner’s permit at 16 like the rest of her friends due to a physical disability. One of the greatest promises of autonomous vehicles is their ability to give full mobility to people who have little or none. For me, it’s personal, but to millions around the country, like the elderly and the blind, it’s an invitation to greater participation in society and the economy.

American business has already done so much to bring us this vision of a driverless future, so it’s important that any regulations we make regarding its development are properly calibrated to encourage, not stifle, this rapidly evolving technology. The Department of Transportation should maintain its open-arms approach to autonomous vehicles, setting the example for states seeking guidance on this unfamiliar territory.

The United States is the global leader in driverless technology, and with the right approach, we’ll stay that way—reinventing the notion of mobility while saving lives and giving a boost to the economy. We should do everything in our power to open the door wide for autonomous vehicles, accelerating us along the path to a safer and more prosperous future.

Diamond is founder, president and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), a nonpartisan organization dedicated to ending the United States’ extreme dependence on oil in the transportation sector to bolster American economic and national security.