Get set now for the future

They’re coming! Self-driving cars are on the way and Ontario has to get ready.

That isn’t the word of some crank wearing a tinfoil hat and warning of a robot invasion. It comes straight from Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca. And he’s right.

“Autonomous vehicles” are already on the road on a trial basis, safely navigating street and highway traffic in such jurisdictions as California. Researchers in several countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom, are aggressively pursuing technologies that make it possible for a vehicle to drive itself. And several U.S. states either have regulations governing self-driving cars or are working on legislation. In short, this is no longer the stuff of science fiction. Google, a major player in the field, recently reported that its self-driving cars have travelled more than 2.7 million kilometres over the past six years with only 11 accidents. All were involved in minor collisions, mainly with the test vehicle rear-ended at traffic stops, and in no case was the driverless car at fault.

These smart people-movers seem very much the way of the future and “Ontario has the opportunity to lead,” Del Duca said in a recent speech to the Toronto Region Board of Trade. But, if it is to do so, the province needs to start preparing now for this transformative technology.

Autonomous vehicles gather a wealth of information about their surroundings every moment they’re on the road, typically using sophisticated radar and laser sensors. That data is married to inputs obtained through GPS positioning, digital maps and other images; it’s all processed by an on-board computer making operational decisions in a fraction of a second.

The result is a self-driving car that’s able to “see” farther than any human motorist — in every direction — regardless of dark, rain or fog. Its reaction time is faster and it never gets confused, distracted, sleepy or drunk.

Google estimates that autonomous vehicles could be available for customers as early as 2020. Others have pegged arrival time at a few years beyond that, and uptake is expected to be broad. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers estimates that autonomous vehicles will account for up to 75 per cent of cars on the road by 2040.

Despite all this, “no Canadian province has any legislative or regulatory regime in place for these vehicles as of this moment,” says Del Duca. In contrast, two of Ontario’s nearest U.S. neighbours, Michigan and New York state, are pushing ahead.

So far the transportation ministry has proposed a five-year experiment that would have autonomous vehicles driving around Ontario on a test basis. A formal request for expert input on how to proceed has been issued and ministry officials are weighing the feedback they received. It’s important to get such testing up and running soon.

Beyond that, nagging regulatory issues remain to be sorted out, including who is held responsible if a self-driving car is found at fault in a collision. What if two driverless cars collide? Should their owners assume liability? The automaker? The software company? There have to be clear rules.

Insurance implications must also be sorted out, and there must be firm guarantees that the technology is foolproof against hackers intent on causing havoc on the highway.

Finally, given this province’s traditional reliance on the auto sector, steps should be taken to ensure that Ontario isn’t shoved aside in job creation and manufacturing opportunities presented by the rise of the autonomous car.

Once all that’s in place, Ontarians should actually be in a position to sit back, relax, and let their car drive them — instead of the other way around.

Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca is right: we need to get ready for self-driving cars