If approved, the proposal would preempt the current patchwork of state-level rules for operating self-driving cars and trucks. But whether federal safety officials ultimately are better-suited to validate manufacturers’ safety claims for the artificial intelligence, algorithms and next-generation vision and sensing technologies that go into self-driving cars remains in question. In 2016, NHTSA and the Transportation Department defined 15 areas that manufacturers need to comply with when they put self-driving vehicles on the road. Insurance companies will also act as a “shadow regulator” to keep manufacturers honest in their technical claims, Ramsey said. The department has been tasked with setting regulations for the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles on state roadways since 2014.

Source: Forbes July 19, 2017 23:51 UTC