Calif. Gov. signs bill allowing fully autonomous self-driving cars with no back-up driver as a Test

[Norm48327]

Deggesty

Prior to the advent of the internet, ignorant young men were not as likely to expose their ignorance to the general public as they are now.

 

[Deggesty]

Prior to the advent of the internet, ignorant young men were not as likely to expose their ignorance to the general public as they are now.

[ouibejamn]

Norm48327

Governor Moonbeam will sign anything that crosses his desk.

 

Prior to the advent of the internet lonely old men just drooled on themselves and talked to the walls, now they share their "wisdom" with the rest of us.  I guess thats  progress.[quote user="Norm48327"]

 

 

 

[Norm48327]

Governor Moonbeam will sign anything that crosses his desk.

[samfp1943]

Found this article while scanning Internet News this evening @ http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/09/29/fully-autonomous-self-driving-cars-get-lift-from-governor/

There is another concurrently running Topic here in another Thread, titled: "Self-Driving Vehicles are they that great a Threat?" 

Not wanting to co-opt that discussion already at some length, and pretty interesting. I felt that the topic contained in the above linked article would merit some additional discussion as Gov. Brown has opened up the topic.

FTA ( Linked article): [snipped] "...California Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a bill that for the first time allows testing on public roads of self-driving vehicles with no steering wheels, brake pedals or accelerators. A human driver as backup is not required, but the vehicles will be limited to speeds of less than 35 mph.

 

The legislation applies only to a pilot project by the Contra Costa Transportation Authority at an autonomous-vehicle testing facility at the former Concord Naval Weapons Station, and at a San Ramon business park containing public roads.

 

At the “GoMentum Station” in the former naval facility, Honda has been testing self-driving cars, and the firm Otto Motors, a division of a Canadian robotics company, has been working on autonomous trucks. The Transportation Authority has said Google and Apple have expressed interest in using the facility..."[snip]

Then there is this from the same source:[snipped]"...The new law allowing full autonomy in limited areas comes amid an ongoing debate about whether driverless cars, with no human intervention possible, are better than an incremental approach in which technologies such as lane-keeping and emergency braking are added step by step.

 

The issue has seen Google’s pursuit of full autonomy pitted against the approaches of Tesla and many other carmakers whose semi-autonomous vehicles are already on public roads..." [snip]

 Addmittedly, the "Bill' will open the topic to testing in an enclosed facility, but there are already autonomous autos mapping streets and neighborhoods all over the country; some success with them has been noted, but there have ben some spectacular 'fails' as well.

"Trucker shortage prompts calls for driverless big rigs"

By Paul Bedard /Washington Examiner

While on the same general topic; I found the above headline which grabbed my attention.  Not to mention that it has been discussed on several Threads here, as it bears some interest on this Forum  as a contributing factor in some ways, to the growth of regional trucking that has built up aournd major railroad hub areas.

Their connections by rail which are utilized by the railroads to connect to the seaports on the East and West Coast to places like Chicago, North Baltimore,Oh. and Memphis. To name just a few.     

  The increase in Intermodal Freight has depleated the pool of drivers, both regional and OTR. The Trucking Industry has in some ways contributed, by 'selling' new drivers that they can be 'home several times a week';or part of week-ends, etc.      Other factors have caused the pools of available drivers to become smaller; issues around enforcement, hours of service, new rules, and regulations from the Federal level; lead to uneven patterns of enforcement at the State and local levels, that create driver satisfaction issues.    Not to mentiion, New Driver Training Rules have caused issues of skills, and knowledge with new drivers. Class time is somewhat shortened, in order to get the new drive 'on the road and earning'.  I suspect that there have also been changes in the 'Standardized OTR Driver Testing' as well(?).

To the article:[snipped] "...As it readies for the busy holiday delivery season, the industry is expecting to be short about 73,000 long-distance drivers, more than three times the shortage of 2005, and that could lead to delivery delays and higher shipping costs.

"It's at a point today where it is an operational hardship. It could soon be that at your store, not everything is there that you are accustomed to being there," said Bob Costello, chief economist and senior vice president of the American Trucking Associations.

"This is an industry that has problems finding drivers," he told the Washington Examiner..." [snipped]

To this: [snip]:"...While the country has more than enough big rigs to move America's commerce, the driver shortage is hitting every industry, not just FedEx or UPS. The incoming president of the National Pork Producers Council, for example, said his sprawling industry is being affected, and sometimes he is finding it difficult to get pork products to market or to ports to be shipped overseas.

"We can't get drivers," said Ken Maschhoff, whose Illinois company, the Maschhoffs Inc., is the nation's third-largest pork producer. "There is a severe shortage of truck transport drivers.".." [snip]

And here is a part I found personally pretty scary:[snip]"...The shortage has prompted calls for driverless trucks and a lowering of the interstate driving age from 21.

"Autonomous commercial trucks could eventually have a positive impact on the driver shortage," said a report from the group. "Eventually, one could envision an environment when the longer, line-haul portion of truck freight movements are completed by autonomous trucks and local pick-up and delivery routes are completed by drivers."

As with drones, the federal government would have to approve robotic trucks on the roads.

Costello also said Washington could create a "pilot program" to give drivers younger than 21 a provisional license to haul big rigs across state lines. Currently, several states allow drivers 18-21 to drive tractor-trailers..."[snipped]