The U.S. government has been actively supporting the development of autonomous driving technology over the past few years, by enacting various rules aimed at helping the auto industry overcome the many challenges that hold back the introduction of self-driving cars to market.
Now, United States has decided to take some more concrete steps in support of efforts for further advancing autonomous car technologies, intending to invest a substantial amount of money in the development of driverless vehicles over the next few years.
10-Year Plan Worth Almost $4 Billion
At this year’s Detroit Auto Show, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, Anthony Foxx, announced that the federal government plans to spend $3.9 billion over the course of the next 10 years to speed up the development of fully-autonomous cars.
“We are on the cusp of a new era in automotive technology with enormous potential to save lives, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and transform mobility for the American people,” said Secretary Foxx. “Today’s actions and those we will pursue in the coming months will provide the foundation and the path forward for manufacturers, state officials, and consumers to use new technologies and achieve their full safety potential.”
Funding Tests and Collaborating with Automakers
As part of this 10-year plan, the government will fund testing programs for connected vehicle systems in designated corridors across the U.S., as Secretary Foxx stated. On top of that, the Obama Administration will collaborate with various representatives from the auto industry that are working on self-driving technology, in order to create a set of safety standards and policies that would be common for all states, and would have to be complied with by every company that wants to deploy autonomous cars.
The main goal of the collaboration between the federal government and the auto industry is to ensure that self-driving cars are safe and that they will not be a threat to public safety once they are commercially deployed.
“NHTSA is using all of its available tools to accelerate the deployment of technologies that can eliminate 94 percent of fatal crashes involving human error,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator Mark Rosekind. “We will work with state partners toward creating a consistent national policy on these innovations, provide options now and into the future for manufacturers seeking to deploy autonomous vehicles, and keep our safety mission paramount at every stage.”
DOT Commits to Five Milestones for 2016
In a press release, the Department of Transportation has announced five milestones that it will try to achieve over the next twelve months. The milestones have to do with collaboration between the public and the private sector, in order to ensure safe deployment of autonomous vehicles and a national policy that would regulate the operation of self-driving vehicles.
To be sure, this initiative from the U.S. government will help cut the time that is needed for safe deployment of self-driving vehicles and creating consistent regulations across the country, which is a significant part of the efforts for improving road safety.