SANTA MONICA, Calif.,
Feb. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is wrong to
say the artificial intelligence guiding an autonomous robot car
counts as the driver, Consumer Watchdog said today, adding that
Google's own test data demonstrates the need for a human driver who
can take control when necessary.
"Google says its robot technology failed and handed over control
to a human test driver 272 times and the driver was scared enough
to take control 69 times," said John M.
Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project Director. "The
robot cars simply cannot reliably deal with everyday real traffic
situations. Without a driver, who do you call when the robots
fail?"
Consumer Watchdog reiterated its support for regulations
proposed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles covering
the general deployment of autonomous robot cars on the state's
highways.
"The DMV would require a licensed driver behind the wheel,"
Simpson noted. "If you really care about the public's safety,
that's the only way to go."
Commenting on NHTSA's interpretation that the robot technology
can count as a driver, Anthony Foxx,
Secretary of Transportation said, "We are taking great care to
embrace innovations that can boost safety and improve efficiency on
our roadways. Our interpretation that the self-driving computer
system of a car could, in fact, be a driver is significant. But the
burden remains on self-driving car manufacturers to prove that
their vehicles meet rigorous federal safety standards."
Consumer Watchdog said it will press NHTSA and the DOT to ensure
that robot car manufacturers prove their cars are safe. The
group also called on NHTSA to learn from California's experience with self-driving
robot cars.
The companies' own data in reports filed with the California DMV
makes clear that a human driver able to take control of the vehicle
is necessary to ensure the safety of both robot vehicles and other
vehicles on the road, Consumer Watchdog said.
Google, which logged 424,331 "self-driving" miles over the
15-month reporting period, said a human driver had to take over 341
times, an average of 22.7 times a month. The robot car
technology failed 272 times and ceded control to the human driver;
the driver felt compelled to intervene and take control 69 times,
according to its "disengagement report" filed with the DMV.
Other testing companies, driving far fewer autonomous miles than
Google, also reported substantial numbers of disengagements to the
DMV. Bosch had 625 disengagements with 934.4 miles driven. Nissan
with 1,485 miles driven had 106. Mercedes-Benz reported 1,031 with
1,738 miles driven. Delphi reported 405 disengagements with 16,662
miles. Volkswagen with 10,416 miles reported 260. Tesla
claimed it had none, but did not say how many miles its drove.
It's important to understand that these "disengagements" were
promoted by real situations that drivers routinely encounter on the
road, Consumer Watchdog said. Among reasons cited by Bosch were
failures to detect traffic lights and heavy pedestrian traffic.
Google's robot technology quit 13 times because it couldn't
handle the weather conditions. Twenty-three times the driver
took control because of reckless behavior by another driver,
cyclist or pedestrian. The report said the robot car
technology disengaged for a "perception discrepancy" 119 times.
Google defines such a discrepancy as occurring when the car's
sensors don't correctly perceive an object, for instance
over-hanging branches. The robot technology was disengaged 55
times for "an unwanted maneuver of the vehicle." An example
would be coming too close to a parked car. The human took over
from Google's robot car three times because of road
construction.
"What the disengagement reports show is that there are many
everyday routine traffic situations with which the self-driving
robot cars simply can't cope," said Simpson. "Self-driving vehicles
simply aren't ready to safely manage many routine traffic
situations without human intervention."
Read NHTSA's interpretation here:
http://isearch.nhtsa.gov/files/Google%20--%20compiled%20response%20to%2012%20Nov%20%2015%20interp%20request%20--%204%20Feb%2016%20final.htm
Read Google's disengagement report here:
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/cadmvdisengagereport-dec.2015.pdf
Visit our website at www.consumerwatchdog.org
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SOURCE Consumer Watchdog