Local, Federal Officials Begin Work On Connected, Autonomous Vehicle Regulations

Connected and autonomous vehicles are slowly but surely coming into reality, enough time for local and federal authorities to come up with solutions to solve issues of privacy and safety.

The Detroit News reports National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration associate administrator of vehicle safety Nat Beuse, speaking before those in attendance at a panel during the first day of the Center for Automotive Research’s 2014 Management Briefing Seminars, said the agency is working on its vision for connected and autonomous vehicles, including regulations on park-assist, crash-warning systems, and more:

One of the fundamental things we have to address is how to test these systems to make sure they’re safe and reliable. There are some serious questions that need to be answered before we can say “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Beuse adds that privacy will also be a challenge for the NHTSA, especially as connected vehicles store information from how one drives, to where one drives to. There are currently few regulations regarding ownership of this data, as well as what to do when hackers figure out a way to break into a vehicle’s connected system.

That said, there may enough time to address those concerns, as the public aren’t too thrilled with the idea of the car doing the driving. A University of Michigan study found 57 percent of 1,500 surveyed in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia held a positive opinion of autonomous vehicles overall, with 70 percent believe such vehicles would help bring down the accident rates in their respective countries. Yet, most surveyed believe humans can do a better job at driving than whatever Google or Baidu unleash upon the world.