China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Driverless tech to transform travel: Chao
US Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said Sunday that autonomous or driverless vehicles are about to change the way people travel and connect and pledged that her agency would work closely with stakeholders to accelerate development of the emerging technology.
Speaking at the AutoMobiliD exhibit at the 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Chao outlined three main areas of autonomous vehicle development that will be critical for her department.
Chao also said her department and its various agencies will work to cultivate safety development, emphasize neutrality in judging technologies and work to avoid a patchwork regulatory approach.
Chao said autonomous vehicles hold great promise for making road travel safer and increasing the mobility of the disabled and seniors.
“Driver-less vehicles can reduce accidents and save lives,” she said. “About 94 percent of accidents involve a driver error. With autonomous vehicles, risk will focus less on drivers and more on software.”
Chao pledged that the Transportation Department will give “careful consideration” to the recent request of General Motors Co for government approval to begin operating fully autonomous cars without steering wheels or pedals in a commercial ridehailing service in 2019.
Chao said the department has unveiled new initiatives to help spur innovation in the technology. Last year the agency released new federal voluntary guidelines for autonomous vehicle development called Automated Driving Systems (ADS): A Vision for Safety 2.0.
“The progress in this area is happening so quickly that you can expect 3.0 to be released this summer,” said Chao.
Chao said her agency has a vital role to play in shaping the new technology, and there are three main areas the department will focus on. Public and private interests must safely integrate the technology into the nation’s transport system, address concerns about privacy issues and establish policies to help cope with the potential disruption of job losses from driver-less vehicles.
“This technology will create new and different jobs. We must help workers transition to these new opportunities,” she said.
Chao spoke a day before the annual press preview at the auto show. On Monday, Chinese automaker Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd (GAC) is expected to unveil an electric concept vehicle.
China expects smart cars with partial or fully autonomous functions to account for 50 percent of new vehicles sold in the country by 2020.
The blueprint, released by the National Development and Reform Commission on Jan 5, is part of the country’s efforts to grow into a global power in smart-car development and production by 2035.
In order to perfect the legal system for self-driving technologies, the government will speed up the drafting of regulations for public road tests of autonomous driving and revise the current road safety regulations “when conditions are mature”, according to the plan.