Google’s Driverless Car Requires Driver, Federal Agency Says

(February 15, 2016) A driverless car does not have a human behind the wheel, which creates a problem for complying with various federal safety standards designed for vehicles with human drivers.

The self-driving vehicles (SDV) being developed by Google, Inc. lack, among other things, steering wheels, accelerators, and brake pedals because the cars are controlled by a self-driving system (SDS). Google asserts that allowing humans to operate the vehicles’ systems could be detrimental to safety because humans could attempt to override the SDS.

Google asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to clarify if these SDVs comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

“We agree with Google its SDV will not have a ‘driver’ in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than one hundred years,” Chief Counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh wrote in response to Google’s questions. “If no human occupant of the vehicle can actually drive the vehicle, it is more reasonable to identify the ‘driver’ as whatever (as opposed to whoever) is doing the driving. In this instance, an item of motor vehicle equipment, the SDS, is actually driving the vehicle.”

The current safety standards define a driver as an occupant, who must be seated in the left front of the vehicle. This creates a problem for Google’s SDV, which has no occupant performing any function. For example, the standards require that brakes must be activated via a foot control. The SDV has no brake pedal for a foot to engage. The SDS obviously has no foot. Google argued that it would not be necessary or beneficial for safety for a human occupant to be able to brake the vehicle. The NHTSA responded that, even though the SDS may be programmed to perform braking, it does not overcome the plain language of the rule. As a result, Google’s system “would not comply” with the braking rule as written. The letter cited several other standards that require human intervention, which cannot be met by the SDS.

The NHTSA said it might initiate a rulemaking to address some of the issues raised by the Google request. The agency admitted that a rulemaking would take time to complete and suggested that in the interim Google consider petitioning the agency for an exemption from the regulations.

Balough Law Offices has make presentations and written on issues regarding autonomous vehicles, including their vulnerabilities to hacking and privacy concerns.