Question of the Day: Should Autonomous Vehicles be Required to Have Driving Controls?
When the first autonomous vehicles moved from the drawing boards to the test tracks, they were envisioned as not having steering wheels, gas pedals, etc. When Google, later Waymo, rolled out its early concept cars, the little eggs on wheels came sans controls.
The company pitched a future where senior citizens or physically challenged people could simply get into their self-driving vehicles can get into their personal vehicle, tell it where they needed to go and it would drive them there — and back.
However, as time has gone on, more and more critics have asked an important question: What happens is the car runs amok? How will it stop? Shouldn’t the passengers be able take control of the car?
Now Amazon’s robotaxi business, Zoox, just became the first company to win approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to deploy its steering wheel-free robotaxis to charge for rides — on a limited basis. NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison told Reuters that Zoox had received clearance to commercially deploy up to 2,500 vehicles in each of the next two years.
So we ask today: Do you think driving controls should remain mandatory equipment for autonomous cabs or not — and why?
[Images: Zoox]
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Michael Strong has spent more than 25 years writing about the automotive industry. A Detroit-area native, he’s written about everything from local car shows to product reviews to financial news. Currently he writes and edits for a variety of national and local publications. He’s also a longtime member of the Automotive Press Association and the International Motor Press Association, and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Hail Southern! Despite a love for ’70s land yachts and BMWs from the late ’80s and early ’90s, his personal vehicle is neither of those.
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What's the point? By the time a rider realizes the car's in trouble, it's going to be too late, even if there are controls in the vehicle.
At the very least, they should take a page from the industrial robots and AGVs and provide a teach pendant to allow a technician to manually guide the vehicle out of harm's way.