Self-Driving Vehicles: Can Legal and Regulatory Change Keep Up With New Technology?

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Automotive travel in the United States will change dramatically in the next decades as technological advances shift more driver functions to computers, cameras, and sensors.  Fully self-driving automation may be distant, but rapidly approaching is limited self-driving automation, which involves giving automation control of all safety-critical functions under certain traffic or environmental conditions, with the expectation that human drivers will resume control as needed.  Emphasis has been placed on the technological changes and capabilities, and their attendant benefits, rather than on driver capabilities and necessary driver training.  To secure the benefits of automation, driver training is essential.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that drivers don’t understand existing technologies, let alone emerging technology required for autonomous vehicle operation.  State legislative activity regarding autonomous vehicles is just beginning, but accelerating.  Now is the time to develop uniform standards and frameworks for manufacturers and drivers to ensure an effective and efficient transition to autonomous vehicles.