Robohub.org
 

Automated vehicle crashes


by
29 May 2015



share this:
Photo source: Wikipedia [Flckr user jurvetson (Steve Jurvetson) CC BY-SA 2.0]

Photo source: Wikipedia [Flckr user jurvetson (Steve Jurvetson) CC BY-SA 2.0]

Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported on several past crashes involving automated vehicles. (Per SAE Standard J3016, I use the term “automated vehicle” instead of “autonomous vehicle” or “self-driving car” or “driverless car.”) A few thoughts.

1) As I wrote in 2012, we would need more information — about the crashes themselves, the conditions under which each company’s automated vehicles are tested, and the situations in which each company’s test drivers intervene — to provide statistical context for these incidents.

2) In some ways, the AP’s inquiry gave us a preview of how public and private actors might respond to future automated vehicle crashes that actually result in injury or death. It may be instructive to view the reactions ofGoogleDelphi, and the California DMV in this light.

3) Over the last few years, I have advised both developers and regulators of automated systems to put in place specific plans for responding, both publicly and privately, to the first high-profile incidents involving these systems. My sense, however, is that many organizations still have not created these “break-the-glass” or “break-glass” plans.

4) Earlier this semester, my impressive Law of the Newly Possible students did develop two thoughtful break-glass plans: one for the developers of automated driving systems and another for the regulators of these systems. Interestingly, although the private-sector group and the public-sector group each recognized the need to communicate with each other in the event of a crash, each also hesitated in reaching out to the other in the course of planning. In the real world, a broad range of stakeholders should be coordinating these plans sooner rather than later.

5) My book chapter on Regulation and the Risk of Inaction, also released this week, identifies eight public-sector strategies for managing risks related to automated driving. It can be freely downloaded here. A key point is that we must expect more of conventional drivers as well as automated vehicles. To paraphrase myself: I’m concerned about computer drivers, but I’m terrified about human drivers.

6) As always, please visit newlypossible.org for additional materials.



tags: , ,


Bryant Walker Smith is an expert on the legal aspects of autonomous driving and a fellow at Stanford Law School.
Bryant Walker Smith is an expert on the legal aspects of autonomous driving and a fellow at Stanford Law School.





Related posts :



#IJCAI2025 distinguished paper: Combining MORL with restraining bolts to learn normative behaviour

and   04 Sep 2025
The authors introduce a framework for guiding reinforcement learning agents to comply with social, legal, and ethical norms.

Researchers are teaching robots to walk on Mars from the sand of New Mexico

  02 Sep 2025
Researchers are closer to equipping a dog-like robot to conduct science on the surface of Mars

Engineering fantasy into reality

  26 Aug 2025
PhD student Erik Ballesteros is building “Doc Ock” arms for future astronauts.

RoboCup@Work League: Interview with Christoph Steup

and   22 Aug 2025
Find out more about the RoboCup League focussed on industrial production systems.

Interview with Haimin Hu: Game-theoretic integration of safety, interaction and learning for human-centered autonomy

and   21 Aug 2025
Hear from Haimin in the latest in our series featuring the 2025 AAAI / ACM SIGAI Doctoral Consortium participants.

AIhub coffee corner: Agentic AI

  15 Aug 2025
The AIhub coffee corner captures the musings of AI experts over a short conversation.

Interview with Kate Candon: Leveraging explicit and implicit feedback in human-robot interactions

and   25 Jul 2025
Hear from PhD student Kate about her work on human-robot interactions.

#RoboCup2025: social media round-up part 2

  24 Jul 2025
Find out what participants got up to during the second half of RoboCup2025 in Salvador, Brazil.



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence