For Immediate Release: July 25, 2019
Contact: Tom McMahon, tmcmahon@auvsi.org, (571) 255-7786

Speakers Emphasize Safety at Automated Vehicles Symposium

Initiatives discussed to enhance safety, provide guidance on technology development and risk management

ORLANDO – Government and industry leaders emphasized the importance of safety in the development of self-driving cars when addressing attendees at the 2019 Automated Vehicles Symposium (AVS), which was hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and took place last week in Orlando.

Nicole Nason, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), was among the keynote speakers at AVS. She said the agency is preparing for when automated vehicles will coexist with conventional vehicles and operate side-by-side with them on the highways.

"I want to affirm the department's position this morning regarding freedom of the open road. We want to protect the freedom of all Americans to make mobility choices that best serve their needs," Nason said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) updated its automated vehicle guidance last fall to the 3.0 version, which provides guidance on technology development and managing safety risks and "clarifies roles to avoid the conflicting patchwork of regulations that hamper innovation and provide best practices."

DOT wants to ensure there is enough bandwidth for automated vehicles to operate. Nason said the 5.9 Ghz band, which is used for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, pedestrian detection, traffic monitoring, travel alerts and more, is of "critical importance to us" to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities — "that's why we call it the safety band."

Nason also said FHWA had a key role in administering the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which will be updated for the first time since 2009.

"We will be asking for public input later this year," Nason said. "The updated version will reflect advances in technology over the past decade and support the operation of AVs. So, I really want to stress — if you're interested, you need to comment. We read every comment. It's been a decade since we've updated it."

Ray Martinez, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which regulates commercial trucking, was another keynote speaker at AVS. He said FMCSA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are also seeking comment on a proposal to remove some regulatory barriers to the development of automated systems. Martinez said this is part of the DOT's overall approach to automated technology.

"We're not coming in here with a heavy hand. ... we are coming to listen and we're coming with an invitation" to talk to the government, he said. "This is not going to be a top-down environment."

Chris Urmson, the cofounder and CEO of automated vehicle technology company Aurora, delivered a keynote address from the commercial industry’s perspective. Urmson, who has been involved with AVs since he was a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University in the mid-2000s and later headed up Google's self-driving efforts, said the industry must focus on safety and what that means.

"To us, it means being free of unreasonable risk," Urmson said. "If you'd like a perfectly safe car, park it in your garage and wrap it up in bubble wrap. This is not about being first for being first's sake, but we have to be safe in bringing this technology to the market.”

Urmson said any Aurora employee can ground the fleet for any reason, citing one instance where engineers noticed that Aurora's cars were failing to see oncoming traffic between 60 and 80 meters away due to a bug in a software update. The vehicles were pulled off the roads until that was fixed.

Uber announced at the symposium that the ride-sharing company has made its safety case public and is sharing it with any industry partners who want to build on it. Uber has printed a voluntary safety self-assessment and hired an outside company to assess its safety culture, and published safety reviews after a fatal crash in Arizona last year.

Noah Zych, the chief of staff for Uber's Advanced Technology Group, said during a presentation at AVS that the question now is not whether the systems are safe, but are the companies developing it trustworthy, and are the regulators trustworthy. He said Uber's goal is to make its work accessible to the public and to share data within the industry.

"It can't be us simply saying here's what we're doing, we have to listen," Zych said. "Actively sharing knowledge within the industry is incredibly important ... we think we will all sink or swim together."

"There is no single way to prove safety," but a company can create an argument that it has achieved an acceptable level of risk, he said. Anyone is free to use the safety framework, Zych said, either in partnership with Uber or on their own.

More information about the program is available on the Automated Vehicle Symposium website.

The 2020 Automated Vehicle Symposium will be held next summer in San Diego.

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About AUVSI

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) — the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of unmanned systems and robotics — represents corporations and professionals from more than 60 countries involved in industry, government and academia. AUVSI members work in the defense, civil and commercial markets. For more information, visit AUVSI.org.

About TRB

The Transportation Research Board (TRB), part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, promotes innovation and progress in transportation through research. In an objective and interdisciplinary setting, TRB facilitates the sharing of information on leading transportation practices and policies for researchers and practitioners.