Self-Driving Cars Becoming Unstoppable
Despite union efforts to squelch this industry, Waymo and others keep proving that robots are better drivers than human beings.
SACRAMENTO — After San Bruno police couldn’t figure out how to ticket a driverless taxicab that made an illegal U-turn, the Legislature passed a measure that would hold these companies responsible for the rare traffic violation. That is not only unobjectionable but signals good news. Last year, the Legislature had tried — but failed — to pass a law that would have essentially allowed localities to regulate these vehicles. That would have put the kibosh on their expansion in major metro areas if individual localities could limit or forbid them on local streets.
This year, California lawmakers simply tweaked the motor-vehicle code in a practical way to deal with an emerging industry. It’s a sign that autonomous vehicles are gaining acceptance, while state officials are mainly trying to deal with any practical concerns. Unions are still pushing other states to require drivers, especially for heavy-duty trucks. But Luddites never succeed over the long haul, although they can delay the adoption of useful and life-saving technologies.
Self-driving vehicles are unquestionably lifesavers. These vehicles are programmed to follow the rules of the road. They occasionally malfunction, but typically in minor ways. The most serious accidents are typically the fault of human drivers. In one of the worst accidents, a self-driving taxi stopped appropriately at a red light. The car behind it also stopped. But then, as the Understanding AI Substack explained, “a human-driven SUV rear-ended the other vehicles at high speed.” If the first vehicle weren’t a Waymo self-driving cab, we’d probably never even have heard about it.
Human drivers are the problem. Peer-reviewed research from the Swiss Reinsurance Co. found the following: “Results demonstrate that the ADS [Automated Driving Systems] significantly outperformed both the overall driving population (88 percent reduction in property damage claims, 92 percent in bodily injury claims), and outperformed the more stringent latest-generation … benchmark (86 percent reduction in property damage claims and 90 percent in bodily injury claims). This substantial safety improvement over our previous 3.8-million-mile study not only validates ADS safety at scale but also provides a new approach for ongoing ADS evaluation.”
That Understanding AI Substack looked closely at reported crashes — and federal law requires the companies to report any “significant” crashes (injuries or air-bag deployments) — and also found that Waymos had a far-lower accident rate than human-driven cars. Even better, it found that the company’s low accident rate continues to noticeably improve.
Apparently, robots are better learners than humans, too. U.S. motor-vehicle fatalities per miles traveled have fallen somewhat lately, but had been increasing in the previous few years. Car-caused pedestrian fatalities also dropped recently, but remain at nearly 50 percent higher than a decade ago — and self-driving cars offer a great chance to reduce those numbers, given that they are most common in cities with a large number of pedestrians.
Some MAGA voices echo the union line. “I think we ought to ban autonomous vehicles,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, told Business Insider. He claimed they aren’t safe and “would be terrible, terrible for working people.” His former point is debunked by the research, and his latter point seems like a bid to protect union jobs. Never mind that the nation is facing severe shortages of truckers and that AVs could greatly help consumers.
Fortunately, the Trump administration is taking a sensible line on the issue. The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued new guidelines for AV development. “As part of DOT’s innovation agenda, our new framework will slash red tape and move us closer to a single national standard that spurs innovation and prioritizes safety,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. It’s encouraging that the department is calling for enabling commercial deployment. And U.S. Rep. Vince Fong, R-Calif., has offered a good bill that would modernize regulations to accommodate commercial AVs.
As I noted in my Orange County Register column, robots are “not chatting on cellphones, fussing with the radio or distracted by crying children. They are more attuned to surrounding traffic — and can ‘see’ much farther ahead than the average driver. But fear of the unknown often drives policy.” I took a Waymo for a ride in Phoenix, and despite the initial weirdness of riding in a car without a driver, the ride was uneventful and pleasant. And I didn’t need to make awkward conversation with a human driver.
Policy makers need to ignore sensationalist headlines about AVs getting in minor fender benders and resist the protectionist calls from union drivers, and let this market develop without undue hindrance. The opportunity to vastly reduce traffic fatalities is astounding. There’s nothing wrong with, say, adjusting traffic laws to deal with real problems, such as minor traffic citations, but they need to err on the side of innovation and freedom.