Driving in the Bay Area is like driving in the future. Sharing the roads with autonomous vehicles is the result of over a decade of work, yet nobody anticipated their teenage rebellion. Fortunately, California’s system of governing these vehicles is up to the task.
Across the Bay Area, it’s been very noticeable and criticized that autonomous vehicles are having trouble complying with traffic laws. These vehicles have made illegal U-turns, driven on the wrong side of the road and blocked emergency vehicles.
The management of AVs has become a subject of controversy, both here in San Francisco, and across the nation. Going into effect July 1, Assembly Bill 1777 will allow police officers to issue notices of autonomous vehicle noncompliance for failure to comply with the vehicle code or traffic laws.
However, it’s been criticized that this bill actually takes us backward because there are no consequences written in the legislation for notices of AV noncompliance, such as a fine you would usually expect with a traffic ticket. What these critics miss is that AB 1777 is only one part of a system, headed by the Department of Motor Vehicles and enforced by its new policies approved April 28, that actively manages autonomous vehicles better than anywhere in the United States.
Critics, like the Teamsters, like to look at states where autonomous vehicles can be ticketed and the fine goes to the owner of the vehicle. In Texas, instead of notices of noncompliance, AVs are just ticketed, and the liability and fine fall on the owner. For multi-billion dollar companies like Alphabet (the parent company of Google) and Amazon, owners of robo-taxi companies Waymo and Zoox respectively, a fine might not mean much. This approach also does not allow for much constructive criticism, instead favoring nominal punishment. The strategy of ticketing autonomous vehicles is both worse at managing the companies in the short term and in promoting development in the long term.
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Self-driving car technology is very much still in development and why legislation has to diverge from previous approaches such as fines from traffic violations. On April 28, the DMV approved new policies that allow the regulations of permits to be more nuanced and closely tailored to the problems with AV performance. While the DMV can currently suspend or revoke permits, it will now begin to make more precise restrictions on permits such as limiting the number of cars a manufacturer can deploy, hours of operation or the area where the cars are allowed to drive. This active management of AVs is backed by required data reporting which includes immobilizations, collisions, breaking events and, as of July 1 of this year, notices of AV noncompliance. This is especially important because these notices provide data that the cars cannot get themselves. If an AV commits a traffic violation but does not get stuck or does not crash, the AV, and by extension the manufacturer, does not know that something went wrong. This bill requires the collection of new data for the DMV to analyze, and this data will improve understanding of vehicle performance to enhance safety.
Even with their faults these vehicles have been proven to be very safe, which is all the more reason to support AV development. A study done evaluating the safety of Waymo autonomous vehicles showed a significantly lower crash rate for Waymo vehicles compared to human drivers across all types of car crashes. Promoting development promotes safety; the faster these cars can develop, the safer the roads will be.
AVs are an incredible development for road safety, and this technology is the future of accessibility that could be enabling for an incredible number of people. The Department of Transportation wants the United States to be on the forefront of this evolving technology to “enhance individual freedom by expanding access to safe and independent mobility to people with disabilities and older Americans.” As a person with a chronic illness, driving can be extremely taxing. I often dread errands, sports practice or seeing friends because I have to drive to get there. I am much more reliant on my parents for transportation than the average 20 year old. Autonomous technology could be the future of accessibility for me and so many others.
AB 1777 is not a spineless half-measure of governing autonomous vehicles. It is part of a system that created the greatest capacity for safety and development of autonomous vehicles we have seen in the United States. While there is still work to do to make autonomous vehicles the cars of the future, this legislation is the best framework to wrangle these vehicles and promote the future of safety and accessibility on the roads.
Sophia Wells is a student at Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. She lives and drives in Redwood City.
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