'Best practices' for autonomous car testing sought by new industry group

WASHINGTON -- Bolstering shaky public confidence in the safety of autonomous cars will be a key aim for a new group of transportation, research and former government officials formed to issue recommendations about how driverless cars should be tested on public roads.

Dubbed the Commission on Autonomous Vehicle Testing and Safety, the group will study and publish “best practices” for the safe testing of self-driving cars on public streets to inform automakers and policymakers working on the issue.

The group is a project of Securing America’s Future Energy, or SAFE, a Washington-based nonprofit that advocates reducing U.S. dependence on petroleum. The organization has recently begun a major push for autonomous vehicles. The autonomous vehicle commission is expected to be announced by SAFE today.

“Unless you test in real world conditions, we will never know if in fact it is ready for prime time,” Mark Rosenker, head of the commission and a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, told Automotive News.

The commission’s recommendations will aim in part to shape testing efforts amid tepid public confidence in the safety of autonomous vehicles as automakers ramp up development and state legislatures grapple with how to allow the high tech vehicles on public streets.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, several states are reviewing autonomous vehicle legislation that if passed could expand testing opportunities beyond the small number of states that currently permit the practice. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also is preparing to issue landmark guidelines for autonomous vehicle deployment in the coming weeks.

“The typical person who has not done a lot of research into the reliability and safety of these vehicles may not have the confidence,” Rosenker said. “This focus and part of the objective of this group will be to try to bring some credibility to show that these things are extremely safe.”

In addition to Rosenker, the commission members consist of:

• Bob Lange, former executive director of vehicle safety at General Motors
• Admiral Dennis Blair, a former U.S. Director of National Intelligence and a member of SAFE’s Energy Security Leadership Council
• Dr. Jeremy Brown, director of emergency care research at the National Institutes of Health
• Paul Brubaker, chairman of the Alliance for Transportation Innovation and former administrator of the U.S. Transportation Department’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration
• Cuneyt Oge, president of SAE International

In a statement, SAFE CEO Robbie Diamond said the commission “offers the kind of leadership we need to ensure the public that these cars are being tested safely on public roads, and potentially improve the process.”

SAFE has pressed for the rapid deployment of autonomous vehicles once their safety is proven through research. In May it called on policymakers to remove regulatory hurdles slowing the technology, and for a national autonomous vehicle policy framework to supersede a potential patchwork of rules that differ from state to state.

The new commission aims to complete their best practice recommendations before the end of the year, targeting an early December release, Rosenker said.

“Each year we wait before we finally deploy these things to help reduce the number accidents, injuries and fatalities, we are just kicking the can down the road,” he said.