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[ChouGoku]

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday unanimously gave the green light to a bill aimed at speeding the use of self-driving cars without human controls, a measure that also bars states from imposing regulatory road blocks.

The bill still must clear a Senate vote, but it appears on track to passage. This should rev up profits for automakers, technology companies and ride service providers, hastening the day when their robot cars can carry passengers on the same U.S. roads as cars driven by people.

General Motors Co, Alphabet Inc, Ford Motor Co and others have lobbied for the landmark legislation, while auto safety groups urged more safeguards and have pledged to keep fighting for changes.

However the measure will not speed the process for self-driving commercial trucks, which remain in a slower lane despite support from several Republican senators.

Senator John Thune, the Republican who chairs the Commerce Committee, said the bill "underscores the bipartisan desire to move ahead with self-driving vehicle technology.... The safety and economic benefits of self-driving vehicles are too critical to delay."

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, sought to amend the bill to require human controls in case of emergency, but dropped that proposal. Some senators argued it would be more dangerous to allow human drivers to seek to take over driverless cars.

Even with the legislative victory, developers of self-driving technology face technical challenges. There are also the complications of driverless vehicles sharing the road with human drivers. GM told California its self-driving cars were involved in six crashes in September. The accidents were all minor, and the automaker has blamed them on human drivers and one bicyclist who hit its self-driving vehicles.

The bill grants the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) authority to exempt vehicles from federal safety requirements and the agency would have to make a determination within six months of getting a request.

The Self-Driving Coalition, a group of automakers, tech firms and advocates for the disabled, said the legislation "will help ensure that the United States leads the world in self-driving innovation."

Companies would need to disclose what information self-driving cars are collecting about individuals and how it is used. Companies would need to disclose if consumers could opt out of data collection. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio)

Sauce

I think the transition to a self driving future will be quicker than people think, usually things like safety checks and public acceptance would be limiting factors but this is one of the few times I am glad of the outcomes of legalized bribery we have in the country. The companies responsible for self driving cars are some of the most powerful companies in the country and will do anything in their lobbying power to get this stuff approved.

 

[Dash_Riprock]

Now watch traffic accidents increase tenfold.

 

[WaterAstro]

I would like a self-driving car future, but if Americans can't even give up guns, they won't give up their right to drive manually.

Now watch traffic accidents increase tenfold.

There could be issues in a partial self-driving car implementation, but when all cars are self-driving and driving synchronously, there will be zero accidents.

 

[ratcliffja]

I'm glad Congress is doing at least one thing right.

 

[Fulminator]

i'm glad for this

 

[Owari]

Now watch traffic accidents decrease tenfold.

Fixed that for ya.

 

[valkillmore]

Fixed that for ya.

I think this is a 'senators can't do shit right' angle.

 

[entremet]

I'm glad Congress is doing at least one thing right.

The biggest self-driving companies are American

I'm glad this is moving forward quickly. Step aside, Luddites!

 

[Blader]

I am eagerly anticipating a fully self-driving car future.

 

[WillyFive]

Now watch traffic accidents increase tenfold.

Self driving cars decrease accidents significantly. It's like the return of horses.

 

[bounchfx]

can't wait. being able to sleep, game, watch tv, or fuck on your way to your destination sounds amazing. same with less accidents, and far far far less traffic. it's probably not going to be an easy transition though. people love to drive.

benefits far outweigh that though imo. just have go kart tracks for cars.

 

[zelas]

There could be issues in a partial self-driving car implementation, but when all cars are self-driving and driving synchronously, there will be zero accidents.

Dont say zero accidents. Self driving cars can't prevent accidents not caused by humans.

 

[Owari]

Self driving cars decrease accidents significantly. It's like the return of horses.

Yep. They literally fix the “don’t text and drive” problem.

 

[Nordic4tKnight]

Yep. They literally fix the “don’t text and drive” problem.

Also the don’t drink and drive one.

 

[DogDude]

Anyone surprised oil companies wouldn't kill this? Just seems like this is logical step to electric

 

[Rentahamster]

I agree with this in general.

 

[WiiredShawn]

I'm pretty much ready for the self-driving future. Playing Switch while driving, let's do it.

 

[Skellig Gra]

I’m still skeptical the tech is mature enough for massive scale but I’d love to be proven wrong.

 

[turmoil]

I want self driving cars now.

 

[Rentahamster]

I’m still skeptical the tech is mature enough for massive scale but I’d love to be proven wrong.

We gotta start somewhere. The potential positive effects in the long term are great.

 

[Dodecagon]

Great news!

 

[TheSpecialOne]

Can't wait for the FBI/law enforcement to be able to control your car and stop you on the road / drag you to a safe house.

 

[TheRealCanadianBros.]

No Demolition man gifs?

 

[JCHandsom]

Sooner than we expect

 

[Bashtee]

Anyone surprised oil companies wouldn't kill this? Just seems like this is logical step to electric

Why? I'm not familiar with all the CO2 emissions, but I wouldn't be too surprised to see that an electic car has a larger footprint than a conventional one. Unless there are some breakthroughs with batteries, I don't see a big change in the next ~20 to 30 years - at least.

 

[Ri'Orius]

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


I get why they're doing this but it still males me a little uneasy. I guess the six months is a grace period / test run?

Pretty sure the cars aren't allowed on the road during the six months. The time limit is just to keep the board moving promptly.

 

[Human Resources]

holding out for a self-driving electric vw bus with a bed in the back with a tv installed on the ceiling above it

 

[adamsappel]

a measure that also bars states from imposing regulatory road blocks.

I'm glad to see this included. I was worried that some states will simply ban self-driving; I didn't order the Model 3 autonomous driving package because of that.

 

[WaterAstro]

Sooner than we expect

I always think of this scene when it comes to self-driving car arguments lol.

And uh that's quite a hot link. I rehosted it.

 

[hateradio]

Model 3, I wish you were cheaper. 😂

 

[kess]

Self driving cars decrease accidents significantly. It's like the return of horses.

Until you run over that flock of ducks crossing the road at 50 mph heh

 

[archreaper93]

The day when I can watch YouTube or play my DS on my way to work instead of having to pay attention to the road will be a glorious one.

 

[RastaMentality]

i want to be able to sleep during the bad parts of road trips and Tesla siri to tell me to wake up and see the nice views so bad.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

I'm still skeptical the tech is mature enough for massive scale but I'd love to be proven wrong.

Probably more mature than the average driver's driving ability. People are garbage at driving.

 

[FyreWulff]

IIRC the exemption is because cars are technically required by safety laws to have side view mirrors, which self driving cars obviously don't need, and an airbag (and steering wheel), which self driving cars also don't need and actually makes them safer because you don't have a giant death spike right in front of one of the people in the car.

 

[Geist-]

Car lobby finally doing something good for once.

 

[sturmdogg]

Self-driving cars in a society that sues other people / companies over the smallest thing. Brilliant! What could go wrong?

 

[Deleted member 1235]

Now watch traffic accidents increase tenfold.

not a problem your president can just say ‘now is not the time to talk about car safety’ after every mass accident

 

[Forward]

Self-driving cars in a society that sues other people / companies over the smallest thing. Brilliant! What could go wrong?

Govermental imposition... checkmate?

 

[Kthulhu]

It's a shame trucks weren't part of the legislation. I'm normally a pro-union guy, and their attempts to resist automation make sense, but this is ultimately harmful for society as a whole.

Now watch traffic accidents increase tenfold.

I take it you don't follow the tech very closely?

 

[KingV]

I would like a self-driving car future, but if Americans can't even give up guns, they won't give up their right to drive manually.



There could be issues in a partial self-driving car implementation, but when all cars are self-driving and driving synchronously, there will be zero accidents.

This will not be true. There may be a very low number or accidents, but there will still be catastrophic failures of the vehicles that cause accidents (like an axle snapping, tires blowing out, whatever)

 

[Kthulhu]

Why? I'm not familiar with all the CO2 emissions, but I wouldn't be too surprised to see that an electic car has a larger footprint than a conventional one. Unless there are some breakthroughs with batteries, I don't see a big change in the next ~20 to 30 years - at least.

Unless the city you live in uses fossil fuels for power, then no, electric cars do not have a larger footprint.

That being said, electric cars do result in about the same emissions in their production as a normal gas guzzler when they are built.

It's estimated that if a 1/3 of car owners went out and bought a new electric car, the amount of CO2 emitted wouldn't drop significantly. Mainly because the main emitter of CO2 isn't consumers, it's governments and companies.

https://youtu.be/MQLbakWESkw

I would like a self-driving car future, but if Americans can't even give up guns, they won't give up their right to drive manually.



There could be issues in a partial self-driving car implementation, but when all cars are self-driving and driving synchronously, there will be zero accidents.

We gave up our right to walk in the street: https://youtu.be/-AFn7MiJz_s

 

[KingV]

Unless the city you live in uses fossil fuels for power, then no, electric cars do not have a larger footprint.

That being said, electric cars do result in about the same emissions in their production as a normal gas guzzler when they are built.

It's estimated that if a 1/3 of car owners went out and bought a new electric car, the amount of CO2 emitted wouldn't drop significantly. Mainly because the main emitter of CO2 isn't consumers, it's governments and companies.

https://youtu.be/MQLbakWESkw



We gave up our right to walk in the street: https://youtu.be/-AFn7MiJz_s

In a country where 65% of electricity is from fossil fuels that’s a pretty big unless.

 

[Chmpocalypse]

Now watch traffic accidents increase tenfold.

It's almost like you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

 

[Hickbilly Deluxe]

They can pry my steering wheel out of my cold dead hands. I enjoy driving way to much to give it up, sorry.

Also, modern vehicles are no where near as comfortable to ride in as my daily beater.

 

[Future]

Now watch traffic accidents increase tenfold.

I’d trust an auto driving car more than a sleepy/distracted/restless/pissed/day dreaming/late for work so eating breakfast while driving driver.

 

[Thoraxes]

Man, when I was a kid I remember we had an assembly during school on the future of technology in the mid-90's with a guest presenter, and remember how even then he was talking about one day we'll have self-driving cars and talked about how it was a problem being worked on. Shit blew my mind at the time.

Can't believe we're finally seeing it all start to really take-off for real.

I can't fucking wait to give up driving in favor of the self-driving future. The sooner the better. For me, the biggest benefit is going to be more reliable traffic patterns/travel times, and just less stress overall.

 

[TyMiles2012]

I would like a self-driving car future, but if Americans can't even give up guns, they won't give up their right to drive manually.

I'd definitely be interested in a self-driving future, but at the same time, I like to be the one in complete control of my vehicle. I'd definitely push the idea forward despite being skeptical. We have no reason to stick to what we have now when we are so close to QOL improvements.

 

[One Eyed Willy]

They can pry my steering wheel out of my cold dead hands. I enjoy driving way to much to give it up, sorry.

This, but truck.

 

[Karsticles]

I would like a self-driving car future, but if Americans can't even give up guns, they won't give up their right to drive manually.



There could be issues in a partial self-driving car implementation, but when all cars are self-driving and driving synchronously, there will be zero accidents.

Yes. My computer never malfunctions.