Sean O'Reilly: All this autonomous car stuff, driverless car stuff, it requires regulations.
We just got a big update there, by the way.
Vincent Shen: Yes. So, I'm really excited to talk about this topic. It's not something
we would usually cover on our consumer show, of course. And, before we get into some of
the companies and the technologies and the innovation that's happening in the space,
there is of course, the regulatory framework. And there's a big update recently being push
by Google, actually. Basically, Google is obviously very well-known for pushing a lot
of these self-driving car efforts. They've been petitioning the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration to basically reevaluate how it defines a driver, the idea being, while
some companies are approaching the self-driving cars where they're so giving it a steering
wheel and brake pedals and things along those lines, where the riders can still operate
the car, Google is envisioning it where there's none of that, and the car is truly--
O'Reilly: It's literally just a pod or something.
Shen: Exactly. And, as a result, they want to petition the government to consider the
fact that in those instances where there is no steering wheel, and the person is just
getting into this pod like you mentioned, the driver is considered the software, and
not the rider.
O'Reilly: So, I'm sure that what just popped into our listeners’ minds, because it popped
into my mind immediately, is, what happens in the event of a fatality or something? Is
it just an act of God? Or what?
Shen: This is where, I think, a lot of laws and rules are going to need to be rewritten,
exempted, waived, or just changed to try and catch up with the technology. All this decision
really came out as basically, the Traffic Safety Administration agreed with what Google
was petitioning-- O'Reilly: Wow.
Shen: --in this instance. But, there's still a lot of work to do, obviously. So, in those
instances, where you mentioned like, there's a fatality, for example, that is ultimately
the main focus of these companies, where they see the benefits of these cars and this technology,
making driving safer, reducing congestion, and also potentially having a lot of environmental
benefits as well, and way more than that actually, as we get into it. The thing is, there's going
to be, obviously, a really long fight ahead to create all of those exemptions, the exceptions,
and necessary rules to adapt for this. But, on that note, I will say the Secretary of
Transportation Anthony Foxx, he commented earlier this year, I think it was at the Auto
Show, the big Detroit Auto Show, his department is really supportive of this technology. And
he's stated let he would actually consider speeding up the process or even waiving some
rules in order to help get these cars on the road, assuming they could pass all the safety
tests and things along those lines.
O'Reilly: The reasoning being that the benefits outweigh the potential downsides?
Shen: Yeah. The technology is improving, and they can drive safely. When you can remove
elements like people being distracted, texting on the phone, or things along those lines,
or just aggressive drivers, when you can remove some of those elements--
O'Reilly: Well, is it true that -- like, I heard that Google's autonomous cars that they've
been testing, they've been in a few accidents, but they were all human errors for something?
Shen: Oh yeah, from the other party. That's generally what I've heard as well.
O'Reilly: Yeah. It's like, well, if every car on the road is an autonomous car, and
they're all talking to each other, I mean, I would have to assume auto fatalities alone
would go down like 99% or something. So, okay. Obviously, your answer to my question earlier,
it sounds like they don't have actual rules written for when a fatality happens?
Shen: No, no, of course not. So, this is just kind of moving in that direction, where you
can see that they are making some progress, and it seems like, in terms of the institution,
the government, they are supportive of these efforts, and they are generally trying to
work with auto makers, technology companies, and building out this technology together.
O'Reilly: So, the conversation has begun, wait and see, but if the government is on
board, that's obviously bullish.