Robotic driving systems need regulation

With automobile manufacturers racing to bring self-driving vehicles to the marketplace, policy makers need to get up to speed and start examining the issues surrounding the transition, according to Jay A. Winsten, associate dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Frank Stanton Director of the School’s Center for Health Communication.

“The transition to fully autonomous driving will confront numerous technical and policy challenges, as cars increasingly rely on radar- and laser-based sensors and computer software to monitor a vehicle’s surroundings and adjust its speed and direction, while transmitting the gathered data to nearby cars and highway infrastructure to facilitate coordinated responses,” Winsten wrote May 8, 2015 in the Huffington Post.

While the National Traffic Safety Administration has begun addressing the topic, it needs to be a top priority, and an independent task force should be convened to examine all the issues, he wrote.

Read the Huffington Post article: Robotic Driving: OK With You?